Chainsaw poetics with Bonny Cassidy

★ Chainsaw poetics with Bonny Cassidy ★

Bonny Cassidy has a solar-powered Makita chainsaw, and that is the start of the whole story.

It’s also the title of the workshop she’s bringing to this weekend’s Words in Winter Festival in Daylesford.

Chainsaw Poetics is a two-hour intensive poetry workshop, but it’s not just for poets.

Bonny says it’s designed for anyone who already has a creative practice who is looking for a way into language and poetic image-making.

“I’ve got a healthy irritation with poetry which is useful, because it makes you keep asking: Why on earth am I doing this? Why not just pick up a chainsaw and make a sculpture instead?”

When the idea for this workshop came to her, Bonny was in her Remnant Box Iron Bark forest chain-sawing wood for heating her off-grid house in the bush near Castlemaine.

“I spend a lot of my time preparing wood, cutting wood, carrying wood and thinking about the day-to-day interaction with the place I live, which informs the way I think about where I am,” Bonny says.

“It’s how the soil feels underfoot. It’s how the level of moisture on your face tells you something about the day. It’s learning to read Country as a visitor, as an outsider looking for those signs that reveal the place to you.”

Much like a chainsaw can transform a fallen tree into a piece of wood to heat your home, poetry shapes words into meaning.

I can’t think of anyone better to learn the craft from than Bonny.

Her literary memoir Monument was recently shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Prize.

Bonny’s poetry has been widely anthologised in Australia and commissioned internationally.

Her essays and criticism on Australian literature and culture have also been published in magazines and journals around the world.

Yep, she’s classy. But she is also a Castlemaniac, beloved for helping people write poetry about merkins.  

Bonny says she has spent a lot of time thinking about the process of writing and how to teach others.

“The process of writing poetry is cryptic and mysterious. To become conscious of it would almost be like trying to ride a bicycle while thinking about falling off. So, I was thinking about how you simplify this process down to its basic elements.”

It’s about transformation of consciousness or experience into language.

Through her workshops and mentorships, Bonny shows people how to wield words like a chainsaw: with purpose, mess and the occasional flying chip of something unexpected.

How lucky we are to have her running classes in our backyard.

• Join Bonny’s poetry workshop this Saturday, which is part of the Words in Winter Festival 

• Listen to our interview with Bonny on the Nugget radio show on MainFM. You can catch our show Mondays at 12:00 PM

• Learn about Bonny’s upcoming writing workshops

• Follow Bonny on Instagram for inspo and news

• Listen to Bonny’s new radio show, Tone Poem. It airs Sundays at 3:00 PM on MainFM

❀ After the hike ❀

J’adore the heck out of local artist Rob McHaffie. This new painting by Rob is based on a family trip to the Otways.

A vision of what might happen after the hike is over. Boom.

♡˖ EVENTS ˖♡

• ✍️ Hub Writer’s Group, Newstead Arts Hub, Fri, 22 Aug, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

• Games Tournament, Mondo Lounge, Fri, 22 Aug, 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM *Ages 15-18 years old, Nintendo, board/card games

• 🎵 A Tribute to The Cure, Shedshaker, Fri, 22 Aug, 8:00 PM

• 🎵 Northlane, Theatre Royal, Fri, 22 Aug, 6:30 PM

• 🎵 DJ Zog, The Albion, Fri, 22 Aug, 7:00 PM - 10:30 PM

• 🎵 Rennie Pearson, Chewton Town Hall Museum, Fri, 22 Aug, 7:30 PM *Songs and stories from Ireland, Scotland, Maritime Canada

• 🎵 Electronic Lovers, The Bridge, Fri, 22 Aug, 7:30 PM - 12:00 AM *Mel Musu, DJ Egg, DJ Clam

• 🎵 Jordie Lane & Band, The Bridge, Sat, 23 Aug, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM *Kids under 12 are free

• 🎵 Pete Murray, Theatre Royal, Sat, 23 Aug, 7:00 PM

• 🎵 AP D’Antonio - The Incomplete Folk Singer, Shedshaker, Sat, 23 Aug, 7:30 PM *Folk, country, blues

• Cabaret Icon Amy Bodassian, Maurocco Bar, Sat, 23 Aug, 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM *Songs and off-the-cuff hilarity

• 🧺 Castlemaine Artists Market, Western Reserve, Sun, 24 Aug, 10:00 PM - 2:00 PM

• 🌱 Massive Plant-out for Platypus, along Campbells Creek just north of Princess St, Sun, 24 Aug, 10:00 AM - 1:30 PM *Kids nature activities, free lunch

• 🎨 Artist Talk: Damian Callanan, Castlemaine Art Museum, Sun, 24 Aug, 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM *Stay for drinks and afternoon tea

• 🎵 Oceanique, Shedshaker, Sun, 24 Aug, 5:00 PM *Indie-folk duo

• Flashdancercise, Campbells Creek Community Centre, Mon, 25 Aug, 7:15 PM

• 🏋️ Powerbar, Castlemaine Scout Hall, Tues, 26 Aug, 9:15 AM *1hr drop-in class, weights to music

• Castlemaine Safe Space, 74 Mostyn St, Tues, 26 Aug, 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM

• 🎨 Art Hang, Newstead Arts Hub, Weds, 27 Aug, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM *Bring a project to work on

• 🎵 Open Mic, Shedshaker Taproom, Thurs, 28 Aug, 7:30 PM

• 🧠 Trivia! The Bridge, Thurs, 28 Aug, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM

• Yapeen Walking Tour, meet at 676 Yapeen-Muckleford Rd, Yapeen, Thurs, 28 Aug, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

• 🎵 Diesel, Theatre Royal, Thursday, 28 Aug, 6:30 PM

• 🎵 Battle of the Bands, Theatre Royal, Fri, 29 Aug, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM *All ages, kids under 12 need to be supervised

• 🎵 Sister Paul & Harold Holt Search Party, Shedshaker, Fri, 29 Aug, 8:00 PM *Japanese-infused glam punk

• 🎵 Spring into the Blue Cloud, Lot 19, Sat, 30 Aug, 5:00 PM til late *Live bands and DJs, hot food bar + ice cream

• 🧺 De-Stash Market, Newstead Arts Hub, Sun, 31 Aug, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM *Buy or sell materials for creative endeavours

• Women of Wit Castlemaine, Phee Broadway Theatre, Sat, 30 Aug, 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM *Produced by Comedy Victoria

• 🎵 The Slingers, The Bridge, Sat, 30 Aug, 9:00 PM *Alt-country / motel pop

• Mount Alexander Wildlife Watch meeting, Sun, 31 Aug, Ray Bradfield Room, 2:00 PM *Come learn about this new group

𖥔 TALK TO MOI PLOISE 𖥔

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• all about your upcoming event, and

• who I should interview next. xx