juli Jana, poet and artist, read at the McGregor poetry festival weekend with Willem Fransman Jr and Lesley Miles
She also held a writing workshop on group experimental poetry writing. The group used inspirational prompts to compose a poem as a whole in an experimental exercise
The McGregor Poetry Festival is a yearly occurrence gathering poets from the Cape to read, explore and share. During covid they were unable to gather at McGregor last year.
This year the theme is on the garden/ the constant gardener/the beloved garden/ the garden of the beloved.
juli Jana will be read poetry related to the garden and its inhabitants such as the beloved and also its creatures to be found there such as a chameleon, bees, an anteater, the owl and the firefly.
POETRY IN MCGREGOR 2021 #33: POEMS ON THE THEME 11.00 – 12.30 CARITAS
11.00 – 11.15 WILLEM FRANSMAN JR
Willem Fransman Jr is a retired scientist who now as a performance poet tries to amuse audiences. He has performed poetry and storytelling events at almost all the major art festivals in South Africa. He is also a published short story writer and award-winning radio drama scriptwriter.
11.15 – 11.30 LESLEY MILES
Lesley Miles is a psychotherapist, feminist, poet, memoirist, and travel and thought blogger, with an MA in English Literature on the novels of Alice Walker. She lives with one dog, one cat and some frogs. The impulses that drive her are usually to do with opening into further meanings, connectedness, and the body. She has recently discovered freediving, and the opening to the ocean feels like a profound coming into aliveness and awe.
11.30 – 11.45 JULI JANA
Juli Jalna is a poet and artist living In Cape Town where she has read and exhibited. She has a MA Creative Research degree from Rhoehampton University in London and was the co-presenter of More Poetry in London for over 10 years. She also held a number of workshops in London.
11.45 – 12.30 THE CONSTANT GARDENER
The Constant Gardener, as in the “Garden of the Beloved”, draws on the metaphor of a gardener whose work is constantly changing and coping with seasons – as we do, being part of a whole and living in cycles of growth, love, decay, loss and change. Our poems are about the change in a physical garden together with our human relationships.
