IF WALLS COULD TALK ft Luka Lesson, Phil, Aalex & Raja Ahmad

Poets and poetry lovers, welcome to our 54th show! We are celebrating this edition with four epic features. 

LUKA LESSON (GREECE/AUS) is an Australian born poet and rap artist of Greek heritage. Luka’s work engages with the mythology of his family homeland, fiercely political opinions on Australian society and the introspective reflections on his personal life. An author of two independently published collections, as well as two full-length recorded albums, Luka has been commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, had poems published in a number of international anthologies, and toured with the likes of Dr Cornell West (USA), Nahko & Medicine for the People (USA), Akala (UK) & Shane Koyczan (Canada). Most recently Luka was commissioned to write a new concerto entitled ‘Macquarie’, with composer Gordon Hamilton for The Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, Luka established his very own annual poetry retreat program in his grandfather’s village on the Greek island of Rhodes. Over the course of his career, Luka has always used education programs as a form of activism and social change in schools and universities worldwide, his poem 'May Your Pen Grace The Page' will appear on the NSW Australian high school English curriculum from 2019-2024.

PHILIP WILCOX (AUS) Philip Wilcox is a former Australian Poetry Slam champion and two-time New South Wales Poetry Slam champion. He tours nationally and internationally and has performed with Harry Baker, Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye. Philip is a regular at a variety of writers’ festivals including Sydney Writers’ Festival, Beijing Bookworm Literary Festival, Ubud Writers’ and Readers’ Festival, Byron Bay Writers’ Festival, and Wollongong Writers’ Festival. Last year he was granted a residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for spoken word where he completed his first manuscript, a collection of poems called Beetle Prayer. Philip was recently the artist in residence for the WORD series at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art. He has a passion for education and teaches and performs poems full-time.

RAJA AHMAD AMINULLAH founded the Perak Arts Foundation (Yayasan Kesenian Perak) with other Malaysian writers and art activists. A respected arts connoisseur and an avid cultural promoter, he has served as publisher/editor for several literary and art critical books. He has published a collection of poems called SOULSHIP/MENYARUNG JIWA (2004) which received critical attention. A new edition of the collection was published in 2010 by the Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia (ITBM). MINDA TERTAWAN: INTELEKTUAL, RAUSYANFIKIR DAN KUASA, his seminal work about the condition of Malaysian intellectuals, was published in 2011. In 2017, he published two collections of poetry, KETAWALAH TANAHAIR KU and KETIKA HITAM DIKATAKAN PUTIH, DAN SAJAK TETAP BERSUARA. KETIKA HITAM was published by Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia and launched at the Indonesia International Book Fair 2017. His latest book, FIDELITY TO IDEAS, published in August 2018 by Gerakbudaya, is a compilation of conversations on arts, journalism, media and the role of intellectuals in public discourse.

AALEX TERMIZI is the love-child of Norah Jones, Zee Avi & Lianne La Havas. Listening to Aalex sing brings the crowd many feels. Her love for music began at the tender age of 8, when she started playing the guitar for the first time. Since then, she's been building her name step by step.

Open Mic: 

Eric Zechary
Shiprika Archarya 
Rachel Chiah 
Amina Koi Dowui 
Shahira Aminuddin 
Rachel Lum 
Vaishika Raj 
Sofea Farida 
Swit Marie
Neena Szulikowska

Hosted by: MELIZARANI T.SELVA

COVER CHARGE: RM20 (inclusive of one drink) 
We would like to pay our featured acts and eventually afford to bring in other great poets of the world to our stage. Your donation will go a long way in helping the spoken word community do so. Gratitude to you. 

HOW TO GET HERE?
1. Look for ENOTECA at Plaza Damansara. On the right side of the restaurant, you will see a stairwell that has a 'Jungle Bird' sign. Walk up the stairs, you will see Jungle Bird, keep walking upstairs, you will hear jazz music, you are close so keep walking up and you’ll see New York-esque street light and a black door. That will be Gaslight Cafe. 

2. Try WAZE or Google Maps to The Gaslight.. 

3. If all else fails, call Han at 0178888845

INSPIRED AND INTERESTED?
To be part of the next open mic session, send an email to iwctpoetry@gmail.com
OR fill up our form http://bit.ly/iwct-poets
OR send us a message on our Facebook Page.