Di Cousens OAM is a poet and photographer based in Melbourne. Past poetry publications include Days Pass Without Name, Free Text Space, House Red and The Freedom to Be. She is also the author of academic articles and a book in Tibetan studies. Her poetry has been published in journals and anthologies and her photographic portraits of poets are used in publications and websites. For 11 years she has been one of the producers of community radio 3CR's Spoken Word program. Di studied poetry writing with Judith Rodriguez and is a member of Melbourne PEN. She was Melbourne PEN's delegate to the PEN International Congress in Pune, India, in 2018, and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2023 for service to the Buddhist community. Her chapbooks can be purchased here: https://www.dicousens.com/shop Production & Interview: Tina Giannoukos

George Vassilacopoulos was born in Greece and migrated to Australia in 1974. He taught philosophy at La Trobe University, and has published books and articles on (European) philosophy, Indigenous sovereignty, and (Greek Australian) history. Ashpoems  (re.press, 2025) is his fifteenth poetry collection, the first in English.Ashpoems is available here: https://re-press.org/title/ashpoems/?srsltid=AfmBOoobU2Q4UL6HNTKlwSCdsG3...(link is external) Produced & Presented by Tina Giannoukos  

‘where the lazy susan spins tirelesslycarrying the love you put on plates’- from Photograph by Lynette Natasha In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 16 October 2025, you will hear poet Lynette Natasha talk about politics, performance and playwriting. During the podcast, Lynette Natasha talks about Cartograpgy of the Void by Chris Abani.Lynette Natasha is a poet and writer whose work explores relationships with family, others, ourselves and the world. Born in Malaysia to a bicultural family and currently living in Naarm/Melbourne, her poems are shaped by the act of living between worlds — how do we become who we are while holding on to traditions, how do we live with so much beauty and brutality, and how do we balance grief with the gloriousness of living. Poems written and performed by Lynette Natasha in this episode:FatherSilenceNew LeafPhotograph NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Lynette Natasha for sharing her poetry and to you for listening! 

Grant Caldwell talks to Di Cousens about his new book of haiku, The Soundless Sound. This is Part 1 of 2 interviews.

George Vassilacopoulos was born in Greece and migrated to Australia in 1974. He taught philosophy at La Trobe University, and has published books and articles on (European) philosophy, Indigenous sovereignty, and (Greek Australian) history. Ashpoems  (re.press, 2025) is his fifteenth poetry collection, the first in English.  Ashpoems is available here: https://re-press.org/title/ashpoems/?srsltid=AfmBOoobU2Q4UL6HNTKlwSCdsG3issjeRIik2huau3lyynmTfVl_MfqE Presenter: Tina Giannoukos  

‘I am her beloved carrion.’- from Vulture my love by Maree Gladwin. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 18 September 2025, you will hear poet Maree Gladwin talk about writing poems in a second language,  teaching poetry, women in science, ecology and lesbian feminist poets.Maree Gladwin is a queer poet, musician and artist who lives in Naarm (Melbourne) on Boonwurrung Country. Her poems in English and French have appeared in several anthologies but mostly she enjoys reading them to friends and family, and to gatherings of the Moat Poets group of which she is a member.Poems written and performed by Maree Gladwin in this episode:The London busLove letter to the universeTree loveVulture my love NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Maree Gladwin for sharing her poetry and to you for listening! 

Di Cousens talks to Peter Bakowski about his new book, Necessary Wonder.

Robbie Coburn is a poet and author of the young adult verse novel The Foal in the Wire (Lothian/Hachette Australia, 2025). His poetry collections are Ghost Poetry (Upswell, 2024), And I Could Not Have Hurt You (Kiddiepunk, 2023), The Other Flesh (UWAP, 2019) and Rain Season (Picaro Press, 2013). He has also published several chapbooks and zines.His poems have been published in Australian and overseas journals including Meanjin, Island, Westerly, and Poetry (Chicago), and anthologised in Oystercatcher One  (5 Islands Press, 2024), To End All Wars (Puncher and Wattmann, 2018) and Writing to the Wire (UWAP, 2016).He has been featured at The Wheeler Centre and La Mama Poetica, appeared as a guest at literary festivals including the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Canberra Writers Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival and Perth Poetry Festival, and run poetry workshops for youth mental health organisation Headspace.He grew up on a farm in Regional Victoria and now lives in Melbourne. Production & Interview: Tina Giannoukos

‘A ceasefire breaks like a paper chainthey killed a forest to make.’- from Crisis Talks by Hayley Ricketson. In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 21 August 2025, you will hear poet Hayley Ricketson talk about politics, performance and playwriting.Hayley Ricketson is a poet, playwright and probably writes most from the impetus that the personal is political – and the political is personal. She discovered spoken word poetry when living in London and has been a Slam finalist in London and Melbourne, and is currently lucky enough to be part of the Melbourne Slamalamadingdong Poetry Team. Playwriting is her love language but overall she loves creative writing and expression in all its forms, particularly when it’s communicating something honest, human and maybe a bit funny. Poems written and performed by Hayley Ricketson in this episode:Crisis TalksSweet NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Hayley Ricektson for sharing her poetry and to you for listening! 

For much of the last four decades, Mark Roberts has been involved in writing, criticism and publishing. In 1982, he established P76 magazine with Adam Aitken and has been involved in small press publishing ever since. In 2011 he set up the on-line journal Rochford Street Review, one of the leading and most long-lasting independent cultural journals in the world.Mark was the winner of the 2016 Byron Bay Poetry Prize and runner up in the 2013 Joanne Burns Award. He was longlisted in the Joanne Burns Award in 2014 and 2019, and the Liquid Amber Poetry Prize in 2023.The Office of Literary Endeavours (Five Islands Press, 2025) is Mark’s third book, after Stepping out of Line (Rochford Street Press, 1986) and Concrete Flamingos (Island Press, 2016).  Production and Interview: Tina Giannoukos

Omar Sakr is a poet and writer born in Western Sydney to Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. His previous book of poetry, The Lost Arabs, won the 2020 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Poetry. In this interview he speaks to Di Cousens about his new book, The Nightmare Sequence, which reflects on the war in Gaza.

Angela Costi is a poet and writer with a background in social justice, law and communityarts. Since 1994, her creative gatherings, including plays, short fiction and essays, have been published, produced, broadcast and translated. She has a number of poetry collection including Honey & Salt (5Islands Press, shortlisted Mary Gilmore Prize 2008), and most recently, The Heart of the Advocate (Liquid Amber Press, 2025). Her chapbook Adversarial Practice (Cordite Poetry Review, 2024) was commended in the Wesley Michel Wright Prize.She won the University of Canberra’s Health Poetry Prize 2024. In 1995, she received atravel award from the Australia National Languages Board to study Ancient Greek drama inGreece. She was writer-in-residence at the former Kensington Public Housing Estate on the Relocated project.She is known as Αγγελική Κωστή among the Cypriot Greek diaspora, her ancestry. She lives on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.The Heart of the Advocate is available here: https://liquidamberpress.com.au/product/the-heart-of-the-advocate/Production & Interview: Tina Giannoukos

In this recording of the live broadcast of 3CR's Spoken Word show, you will hear Indrani Perera and WaffleIrongirl presenting poems sent in by our listeners. This June we’re asking you for your donations so that we remain free of government and corporate influence, and a true voice for the community. If you’ve ever enjoyed just a single program, then that’s a great reason to support us with a tax-deductible donation and make sure we're here for you tomorrow.Huge thanks to everyone who has already donated! To add your donation, go to: https://bit.ly/3crGIVENOWEvery little bit helps! Poems played in this episode:Lines and Bridles by Anke MacLeanCanyon Lee by Richard AtkinsThe Night by Sasha CuhaBlue Horse by Marion May CampbellArtemis by Marion May CampbellOff the Face of the Earth by Caz MaselAvoidance by Amanda Anastasi NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsProduced by Brendan Bonsack. 

3CR Spoken Word presents a LIVE show to celebrate the 3CR 2025 RADIOTHON! Hosted by Brendan Bonsack & WaffleIrongirl, this show was broadcasted on 3CR 855AM on 12th June 2025.Thank you so much for your donations, don't forget you can keep giving throughout June at: https://bit.ly/3crGIVENOWWe play listener contributions from:Antonio Montaine (Instagram: @antoniomontaine)Andrew Rogerson (Instagram: @ithinkthereforeislampodcast)Steven Atkinson (https://www.youtube.com/@stevenatkinson2360/videos)Josh Cake (Instagram: @joshcakemusic)Bernard Peasley (Instagram: @rhoufifoto)Dave Munro (https://www.facebook.com/dave.munro.528)Saara Lamberg (Instagram: @saaralambergofficial / https://events.humanitix.com/winter-warmers-film-festival)Stephen Smithyman (https://www.facebook.com/stephen.smithyman)

Sandy Jeffs' memoir, Flying With Paper Wings, Reflections on Living With Madness, has been recently reissued in a revised edition. Sandy talks about her experience of schizophrenia and the healing power of poetry. Part 2 of 2.

Sandy Jeffs' memoir, Flying With Paper Wings, Reflections on Living With Madness, has been recently reissued in a revised edition. Sandy talks about her experience of schizophrenia and the healing power of poetry. Part 1 of 2.

Jarad Bruinstroop’s debut poetry collection, Reliefs (UQP, 2023) won the Wesley MichelWright Prize, the Five Islands Poetry Prize, the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, and wasshortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award.He is the recipient of the Val Vallis Award, the Queensland Writers Fellowship, and the Fryer Library Creative Writing Fellowship.His work has appeared in The Best of Australian Poems, Meanjin, Overland, HEAT, Island,Westerly and elsewhere including at the Queensland Art Gallery, QUT Art Museum, andGeorge Paton Gallery.He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from QUT where he now teaches.He is currently at work on a short story collection. Photo: Torrey AtkinProduction & Interview: Tina Giannoukos

‘to write of skin is to discredit the self’- from Home’s Duplex by Lesh Karan In this episode of 3CR's Spoken Word show which aired on Thursday 17 April 2025, you will hear poet Lesh Karan talk about studying poetry, assemblage, movement and lineages.Lesh Karan is an emerging poet of Indo-Fijian descent based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her work has been published in Meanjin, Overland, Griffith Review, Cordite, Island, Rabbit, Strange Horizons (USA), and Best of Australian Poems (2022, 2023). She won the 2023 Liquid Amber Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the Judith Wright and South Coast Writers Centre poetry prizes, and received an honourable mention in the 2024 Red Room Emerging Poets in Residence program. Lesh holds a Master of Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing from the University of Melbourne.Poems written and performed by Lesh Karan in this episode:Twenty-one+ answers to your questionHome’s DuplexRed Writing Hood NoteSpoken word and poetry come from the heart and touch on all the topics peculiar to the human condition. As such there may be content in this show that could cause distress. Please practice self-care when listening and seek help if you need it. CreditsRecorded, produced and edited by Indrani Perera.Thank you to Lesh Karan for sharing her poetry and to you for listening! 

Marion May Campbell's novels include Lines of Flight (1985), Not Being Miriam (1989), Prowler (1999), Shadow Thief (2006), and konkretion (2013).She has also published the cross-genre collection Fragments from a Paper Witch (Salt, 2008), an experimental memoir The Man on the Mantelpiece (UWA Publishing, 2018), the poetry collections third body (Whitmore Press 2018) and languish (Upswell 2022).Her novels Lines of Flight (1985) and Not Being Miriam (1989) were shortlisted andcommended for major Australian awards and twice for the Canada-Australia Literary Prize;Not being Miriam won WA Week Literary Awards for Prose Fiction (1989), the libretto DrMemory in the Dream Home shared the Patricia Hackett Prize (1992) and Fragments from aPaper Witch was a finalist for the Innovation Category of the South Australian Festival Literary Awards (2010).She has been recipient of nine writer’s and residency grants and won the Senses of Cinema Prize for the best essay in 2021 and the joanne burns micro-fiction prize for 2022. Production & Interview: Tina Giannoukos