A ‘cyber slam’ pitting poets from Scotland against their Antipodean counterparts, live and online, will take place at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews in September.
After the success of last year’s digital mini-festival, StAnza will host the new event with Overload, Melbourne’s poetry festival.
The Cyber Slam, between midday and 1pm on September 11, will take place simultaneously at the Byre and Overload.
Both teams will be cheered on at their respective venues and the performances will be webcast live, so viewers from around the world can follow the poets’ battles online.
The StAnza team includes festival favourites Robin Cairns and Kevin Cadwallander, with Milton Balgonie, Claudia Daventry and Julian Moorman.
The Slam will be immediately followed by Risk-a-Verse, an open mic for Fife poets which will be performed at the Byre from 2pm-4pm and webcast to audiences.
For details of how to sign up, email info@stanzapoetry.org.
Both the Slam and Risk-a-Verse are part of the Year Of Culture, which showcases Fife’s cultural talents.
StAnza director Eleanor Livingstone said, “Our debut virtual festival last year was a huge success and we were keen to exploit the possibilities of digital media for poetry again.”
Overload director James Waller said, “The Skype Slam is an exciting and resourceful way for poets, audiences and organisers from different parts of the globe to get to know each other.”
Both the Slam and open mic are free and open to the public.
For information visit www.stanzapoetry.org.