Published 30 August 200931 August 2009 · Main Posts the kind of poet who… Overland Overloaded Melbourne writer Alec Patric is the first of Overland’s Overload reviewers to be introduced on this blog. Alec has published in many publications, including Going Down Swinging, Etchings and the Blue Dog Poetry Anthology, and was recently part of Overland’s Progressive Writers Masterclass. Here, Alec muses about the kind of poets you’re likely to meet at overland.org.au during Overload. Anonymous Poets The kind of Poet with angry skin and blistered rhymes using words like tattoos, needles for all his i’s who slithers onto stages with ink, spits and sprays out a violence the snakes writhing over his forearms — swell and sway and sing The kind of Poet who is looking for a lion to put her head into, for the mouth to be spacious, clean for running lion dreams of antelope, for lion hunger and jaws but all she ever finds is thoughts like fleas sucking out her words The kind of Poet that wants to change the world one page at a time, one pill at a time one brick at a time, one revolution at a time changing his mind like changing a tire — while driving The kind of Poet who makes everyone laugh who loses herself in that sound, who loses her mind in that silence crashing over her bones after, because the blood is the lie of passion and love alone just gets tired in the shove and pull of her abandoned joke The kind of Poet who learned the Islamic prayers for morning and evening sung the Salah like a Sufi, singing for Mecca in country Victoria living out of his battered van now, a self printed collection of poetry mostly just giving them away to people who believe the Word is Great The kind of Poet who writes herself notes in pen, on the backs of her hands, and her palms are for private messages The kind of Poet with a cultivated air an elegant lion tamer, of precise attention of command and direction, within the cage but beyond bars a whipped and bewildered lion The kind of Poet who sees evil portents and is undone like flying shoelaces, and stumbling blackbirds who drains half empty glasses, and then witnesses in the empty glass an unbearable symbol of optimism Visit Alec’s blog here Overland Overloaded More by Overland Overloaded › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 8 September 202326 September 2023 · Main Posts Announcing the 2023 Judith Wright Poetry Prize ($9000) Editorial Team Established in 2007 and supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets seeks poetry by writers who have published no more than one collection of poems under their own name (that is writers who’ve had zero collections published, or one solo collection published). It remains one of the richest prizes for emerging poets, and is open to poets anywhere in the world. In 2023, the major prize is $6000, with a second prize of $2000 and a third prize of $1000. All three winners will be published in Overland. First published in Overland Issue 228 8 September 202315 September 2023 · Main Posts Announcing the 2023 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize ($6500) Editorial Team Supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, and named after the late Neilma Gantner, this prize seeks excellent short fiction of up to 3000 words themed around the notion of ‘travel’; imaginative, creative and literary interpretations are strongly encouraged. This competition is open to all writers, nationally and internationally, at any stage of their writing career.