Poetry Night with Koraly Dimitriadis and Ruby Hamad

Join us with Melbourne-based poet, writer and performer Koraly Dimitriadis to celebrate the release of the 10 year anniversary edition of the bestseller for poetry Love and Fck Poems, and the new illustrated edition of her second poetry book, Just Give Me The Pills, illustrated by her daughter. Koraly will perform some old and new poetry and this will be followed by an in-conversation with journalist and author Ruby Hamad. There will also be a short open mic (time permitting) for those who want to read (spaces limited to 3 - registrations between 6-6.30pm - one poem per person, 2 minutes max.)

Koraly Dimitriadis is poet, writer and performer who creates from the standpoint of the daughter of working-class migrants from postcolonial Cyprus. Koraly’s practice explores political and feminist subjects such as single parenting, divorce, cultural/religious repression, chronic illness, violence against women and identity with raw, fearless vulnerability to shift narratives suppressing the marginalised. She is the author of the poetry books Love and Fck Poems (also translated into Greek) and Just Give Me The Pills. She also makes films and theatre with her poems. Her short story collection The Mother Must Die is forthcoming with Puncher and Wattmann. In 2019 she was the recipient of the UNESCO City of Literature residency in Krakow for her debut fiction manuscript. Koraly's opinion articles and essays have been published widely across Australia with international publications in The Washington Post, The Guardian and Aljazeera. She is currently conducting research and developing her first book of non-fiction, Not Till You're Married, supported by Creative Victoria. www.koralydimitriadis.com

Ruby Hamad is an author and academic with a journalism background. She is in the second half of a PhD in media studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Her best-selling debut book WHITE TEARS/BROWN SCARS traces the role that White Womanhood and feminism have played in the development of Western power structures. The non-fiction book was inspired by her viral 2018 essay 'How White Women Use Strategic Tears to Silence Women of Colour', which was published in Guardian Australia and became a global flashpoint for discussions of race and gender. Ruby spent five years as a columnist for Fairfax media's flagship feminist portal Daily Life. Her columns, analysis, literary reviews and essays have also featured in Australian publications The Saturday Paper, Meanjin, Crikey and Eureka St, and internationally in The Guardian, Prospect Magazine, The New York Times, and Gen Medium.

Copies of Ruby Hamad's WHITE TEARS/BROWN SCARS will be available for sale on the evening, alongside both of Koraly's collections.