Each year since 2015, the International Poetry Studies Institute at the University of Canberra has run the five-day poetry festival, Poetry on the Move. Normally, the festival includes workshops, panel discussions, poet interviews, symposium papers and, of course, poetry readings.

Sadly, COVID-19 has meant Poetry on the Move cannot go ahead in its usual format this year. Nevertheless, with many people turning to poetry for solace, comfort and a sense of community, the Poetry on the Move organisers are running this year’s event online over five months in the second half of 2020.

The Poetry on the Move website offers workshops, writing by the festival’s online poets in residence and poems by Australian and international writers addressing the theme of ‘home’.

The Well-known Corners feature includes many wonderful videos of poems addressing the experience of lockdown, or simply a sense of home. You might particularly enjoy:

Room-ination by Jacqui Malins which ponders the passing of time amid the uncertainty of a novel pandemic. You can see Jacqui’s video here (please scroll down).

Larry, Barry by Owen Bullock – he’s writing a lot of poetry at the moment but still trying to work out if its any good! You can see Owen’s video here (please scroll down).

In addition to the videos, Poetry on the Move includes Well-known Corners of the People: poems submitted by readers on the theme of ‘home’. All the poems are listed here.

Among them is a poem of mine titled, Canterbury Tales:

Canterbury Tales

the beauty of time
on my hands

afternoon sunshine

spreading the mayo
with extra care

salad sandwich
spreading the mayo
with extra care

the familiar sound
of this neighbourhood

evening walk

with extra care

I plan a summer
road trip
Canterbury Tales

evening walk
the beauty of time
on my hands

Please go online to enjoy the 2020 Poetry on the Move while we all look forward to next year’s festival returning with a face-to-face format and a bumper program.