Cameron Semmens
Cameron Semmens is the author of twenty one books. Twenty one! When's he's not writing poetry and making books, he's teaching workshops in poetry. He eats, breaths and drinks poetry 24/7 and he was an incredible pleasure to have a chat with.
Sean opens up the show with a poem called They Don't Love Blue. To listen to this poem with stunning music by Isnod go here.
Cameron goes above and beyond in taking on the More Than A Whelan challenge and writes not one, not two but three poems especially for the podcast inspired by our listener prompts. We go deep about what poetry can be. Can poetry be a cream pie smashed in your face by an evil clown? Cameron Semmens proves that yes, yes it can, through an hilarious story of auditioning for Red Faces in Hobart.
Cameron first poem is called Fiddlesticks. Thank you Rebecca Vespertine for the creative prompt The Colour of Regret. Congratulations on being another Muse of The Week!
Sean reads a poem called The Embassy Cafe inspired by the creative prompts 24 Hour Embassy Cafe by Jessica Alice and Holy Sock by supplied by Cameron Semmens himself. Thanks Cameron and special thanks to Jessica Alice for becoming a first time Muse of the Week!
Cameron reads his second poem called You Woman, You've Had Enough using the creative prompts Icepoles & ICU and Hollow Eyes Hoping For A Better Day by Jenny O'Keefe. Thighmaster and a photograph of a man lying on a pillow with Marlene Dietriech's face were creative prompts supplied by Emilie Zoey Baker.
Sean reads a poem created for Liner Notes Live at the Melbourne Writers Festival telling the true story of his encounter with Nirvana at Kings Cross Train Station in 1992.
Cameron's final poem is a piece called Coddled By Spiders using the prompt Hollow Eyes Hoping For A Better Day by Jenny O'Keefe.
The segment Whelan & Stealin' returns after an absence of a couple of weeks where Sean reads some of his favourite writing by other writers and asks his guests to do the same. Sean reads a poem by Nathan Curnow called Bath Towel Wings from a collection called No Other Life But This published by Five Islands in 2006. Cameron reads a poem called Sweet Darkness by David Whyte.
Look out for a new children's book by Cameron called One Big Wish to be released very soon.
Also Cameron has his very own poetry podcast called Shards. And a blog detailing his unlikely experience of discovering a mural of Truganini in Norway.
Thank you for listening to Episode 11 of More Than A Whelan.