Poetica Petit

Next date: Thursday, 13 November 2025 | 06:00 PM to 08:00 PM

Celebrate the time honoured practice of literary correspondence - join us for a night of live readings of remarkable letters between some of our favourite poets and literary figures. This special night of words is an intimate affair for attendees, with poets extraordinaire Kasturi Wren, Olatundji and Jessica Chapnik Kahn reading a curated number of letters between poets and writers through the ages. THINK: Viginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, Audre Lorde and Pat Parker, Peter Orlovsky to Allen Ginsberg, Bukowski to an old friend and Rilke to a young poet. ‘The Letters’ is a night of words read aloud.

Poetica MC Miriam Hechtman will host the night, which includes an open mic section, to make it a truly special evening.

The night will feature a number of poet readers:

Kasturi Wren is a lawyer, writer, and curator whose work spans justice and art. She is the founder of Wren & Whippet, a creative platform blending design, photography, and storytelling. Her current projects include her memoir and a collection of poetry exploring love, exile, and belonging. With roots in Sri Lanka and a life in Australia, Kasturi writes from the in-between spaces of culture, faith, and identity.

Olatundji is an internationally renowned poet and performer. His father is from Benin in West Africa and his mother is from Vermont in America so he grew up on the cultural fringes of both black and white America belonging to both but never quite fitting into either. His work investigates the spaces between seen and unseen, the concepts of love, and the voices that inhabit these monoliths.

He has been published in the Barcelona Review, Illiterate Magazine, and the Boulder Poetry Scene Zine amongst others. He is author of five books of poetry and his most recent book, Post Surrealistically Challenged, is available at BaobabTreeWriter.com

Jessica Chapnik Kahn is an Argentinian-Australian writer, singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who trained at the Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School in New York. She has performed across theatre, television, and film, released two albums under the moniker Appleonia, and earned an ARIA Fine Arts Award nomination. Jessica is the author of the poetry collection MADRE, the children’s book Lenny and the Ants, and co-author of A Repurposed Life, which was long-listed for an ABIA Award. Her latest collaborative work, The Fire Always Says Yes, premiered at the Sydney Opera House.

Sign-up on the night to be part of the Open Mic!

Poetry enquiries: movingtrains@gmail.com

When

Location

Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf, 548 New South Head Road, Double Bay, 2028, View Map