my heart is beating in my chest

It could be because the waves are wearing me down like sea glass, in the hope that it will dull down my sharp edges. I don’t know, I’ll have to check with Angela Willock, our next featurette for Words or Whatever this Friday. I think she’ll know.

Angela has been dipping her toes and then her feet, then a whole leg and then a little more into the warm water of Brisbane’s spoken word poetry scene in the last few months/year/some time I can’t quite pinpoint and I – for one – have been enjoying seeing her catch waves. That said, she describes herself as a bowerbird, not some random sea creature, always trying to get things done, but getting side tracked by the shiny/beautiful things. I think that’s almost like frolicking the surf. Almost.

Inspired to write by a desire to vent, to care, to escape and to play, what emerges from that energy is sincere and genuine and emerging in strength and clarity. Angela is equally inspired by Brisbane’s local spoken word poets and overseas icons like Andrea Gibson and Buddy Wakefield. In terms of advice for aspiring poets, Angela is typically succinct and free from bullshit: “just write”.

Her gender, her perspectives as a woman are important to her as a writer, a part of her identity and an influence on the way she looks at things. Like many women writers, however, she would also like to think that her work would stand independent of gender.

Characteristically, Ange pulls no punches, so when she says that you can anticipate “poetry” from her on Friday night, she really freaking means it.

—

Angela Willock is a Brisbane-based poet, awkward conversationalist, and alphabet enthusiast. She has been slinging words around brisbane for the better part of a year, and can usually be found skulking in dark corners of Jam Jar Poetry Slam, Words or Whatever, and any other event going .

Her recent successes include becoming a finalist in the 2012 QLD poetry slam, performing roving poetry at Island Vibe festival as part of Monologolous Rex, and winning a jar of jam. She has also just finished facilitating poetry workshops with young women at a community organisation. She will be featuring at Raw Poet Roar on December 1st.