Nor will Rhyll Tonge be doing your thinking for you, because she’s been thinking all along…
Rhyll Tonge has words etched onto the inside of her lungs and she inhales to write and performs poetry to remember to exhale. During her gypsy days in the Americas, Rhyll was inspired to start performing what she had always known as air, sharing and learning performance poetics at many open mikes along the road. Rhyll’s poetry is nature inspired exploring philosophy and social justice concepts, her words hold stories to ears and hopes they will find their way to lungs.
She is known to collaborate with other poets and musicians to fill the room with layers of creativity and avoid individualistic tendencies. Rhyll has featured in Arcata California at Muddy Waters and in Vancouver at Nyala collaborating with two local musicians on slide guitar and drums. She taught poetry and mixed art classes at an orphanage in Mexico for three months before returning home and filling her airways in the Brisbane poetry scene. Since returning Rhyll is a regular at open mike events, Words or Whatever and Jam Jar Slams and has featured at Words or Whatever, Turnstyle and Brisbane Aboriginal Rights Coalition events.
She regularly collaborates with Jocelyn Farebrother performing at various gigs, markets and weddings on their adventures and she also works with Katy Hill on local publications and open mike poetry performances. Influences include many unnamable strangers, Ani Difranco, Lou Rhodes, Andrea Gibson, Lauren Hill, Lamb, Tim Winton, Maya Angelou, breathing in the eucalyptus bush.
She’ll be joining with the one the only Darkwing Dubs for a performance of art inspired by poetry at the Brisbane Emerging Arts Festival. You wanna see live nude girls? You’re kidding me, right? Friend, we are not friends any more. I wanna see live raw poetry.
eleanor j jackson 
A modern Muriel Rukeyser?