Get into the creative zone and explore song-writing and lyrics with Mr Tim and Ms Nath.

Together you will all contribute lyrics to write a song with musical accompaniment. And your song will be recorded and sent to you as a sing-a-long file after the workshop.

Suitable for children aged 7-13, and their parents.

Free event - registration required.

In this free school holiday drop-in for primary school-aged children and their parents, you will be inspired by the ‘Capturing Canberra’ exhibition, to reinvent a favourite place or moment in time, using poetry, collagraph, drawing and collage.

‘Capturing Canberra’ features some of the most iconic moments in Canberra history, captured through the lens of talented photojournalists.

Free event - drop in.

With ideas and inspiration bubbling after the Poetry as Innovation Machine symposium, come along to the Poetic Innovation Salon to digest the presentations and ideas, discuss them with colleagues and friends, and try out some new poetic tactics and strategies.

Some of the speakers from the symposium will be on hand to chat and offer support and suggestions for your own poetic experiments.

Free event - drop in.

This mini-symposium, hosted by the University of Canberra’s Centre for Creative and Cultural Research and presented in collaboration with the Uncharted Territory Innovation Festival, will explore innovation in poetry, cross-disciplinary approaches, and how poetry can offer new ways of seeing and thinking, whatever your discipline.

Free event - registration required.

Zines are the ultimate in DIY publication for poets and artists. Come to the Poetic City Zine Fair to browse, buy or make your own!

CanberraZine Emporium will host a maker space where you can make your own zine, and will have zines for sale from local makers and across Australia. Local zine makers are also invited to book a table to sell and trade their work.

Free event - drop in, or register by email to have a table.

SlamShop is a slam poetry workshop for young people aged 13 - 18 years. Come and raise your voice!

Experience the art of slam poetry with Andrew Cox and Yleia Mariano of Canberra Slam. Unpack your own story and learn the tools to share it, with power and confidence.

By the end of this workshop you will have written a poem, and learned how to perform it in your authentic voice.

Tickets: $5 Full/ $0 Access.

Drop into the As You Like It Cafe and write with Majura Cafe Poets.

Majura Cafe Poets have been meeting weekly in Canberra cafes since 2009, and they invite you to join them. Get writing with encouragement, good company and writing prompts to get you started!

Free - drop in.

Is it a bird? A flock of words? Or a poem?!

Find out in this free school holiday drop-in workshop for infants and primary school-aged children and their parents.

In this fun-filled workshop, be inspired by the exhibition ‘Fly Fly!: Sidney Nolan’s Birds’ to play with rhyme and words, and create a bird. Then add your bird to the flock - and your words to the poem!

Free event - drop in.

In this hands-on and pens to paper workshop, participants can expect tips on how to write poetry that mixes English with other heritage and learned languages.  Writing multilingual poetry is a great way to draw on and communicate all of your cultures and identities in a way that is rich and true to your experience.

Drawing upon several of his poems and processes that mix Twi, Japanese and English as stimuli, Andrew will guide participants to craft their own.

TICKETS: $20 full/$10 concession/$0 access

At this workshop with COAR, Canberra’s Collective On Anti-Racism, participants will deepen their knowledge of anti-racism through the medium of poetry. They will be introduced to the topic of anti-racism more broadly and then read and discuss a variety of anti-racist poetry, with an emphasis on work that centres the lived experiences of people of colour.

The workshop will also invite participants to write their own anti-racist poetry, focusing on their positionality and perspective on this topic. All people are invited to participate regardless of their knowledge of anti-racism.

TICKETS: $20 full/$10 concession/$0 access

In this practical workshop with poet and teacher Owen Bullock, we’ll discuss examples of urban themed haiku. Because we’re gathering in winter, many of these haiku will also reflect the winter season.

Haiku take their cue from the environment, whether of nature or the city, or both, so we’ll then go walking in the CBD in search of inspiration. Haiku observe with detachment, even when they are more concerned with human nature; having learnt from the examples, we’ll try to put this attitude into practice and discover some of the particular moments that Canberra has to offer. We’ll then share and discuss our experiences back at the Library.

TICKETS: $20 full/$10 concession/$0 access

Come and create a text-based black-and-white graphic poster, using a line or words from your poetry. You can use an existing poem, or write some new text on the day.

On Saturday afternoon artist and poet Caren will give us a tour of exciting examples of concrete poetry and text-based art, and guide your digital typography, design and layout to create your own black-and-white graphic poster. On Sunday morning, we will paste up our posters in high-visibility sites in City West.

TICKETS: SOLD OUT

Six trees stand bare limbed in the inner courtyard of the iconic Melbourne Building, inviting our wonder and creativity. The London plane trees are hardy city dwellers, reaching up magnificently, elegant with their patterned bark.

Sarah St Vincent Welch, poet, teacher and creator of the Kindred Trees Project, will guide you to write short poems in various forms in response to the London planes, their histories, and the ambience and ecosystem of Odgers Lane.

TICKETS: $20 full/$10 concession/$0 access