Poetry Edition (Part 3) Morgaine Van Wingerden Interview

Slam Poetry and Spoken Word

Spotlight Series (Part 3)

Morgaine Van Wingerden Interview

The first featured Poet of the Week

Born in Perth and raised in the Blue Mountains now residing in Melbourne.

She is a Poet, Spoken Word Artist and Midwife bringing a fresh straight up perspective giving us real raw insight and bringing to the forefront topics of Motherhood, Violence and dealing with the past traumatic experiences

Performing at events across Australia she has blessed many a stage with her raw confident talent.

Morgaine van was also a member of the only Australian team to compete in the National Poetry Slam in Chicago 2018.

If you want to catch some knowledge and feels and just be in awe or even inspired, I recommend checking her out and get familiar with her work.

I will link below the 2 of her performances

"Things Borrowed" https://youtu.be/VfwWrnCN_C4

"My Generation" https://youtu.be/fPrBr9VcF9s

Her Links are Below: https://www.instagram.com/morgaine.nova/

Enough from me here is the Interview!!

Where are you from?

I was born in Perth but raised in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. I’ve been living in Melbourne for the past 3 years.

How Long have you been writing/performing?

I started writing on and off as a teenager, but only started taking it seriously and performing after I moved to Melbourne and was introduced to an open mic poetry night by a friend.

If you could meet any poet dead or alive who would it be?

I’d be frightened to meet them because I’m fairly certain I’d make a complete tit of myself, but probably Leonard Cohen or Maya Angelou.

You competed in the National Poetry Slam in 2018, What was that like?

Mostly that was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed collaborating on group pieces and it was with a bunch of great people. It was good to see what slam is like in the US and meet a lot of other performers.

There were also a lot of themed open mics, like the women’s and the Indigenous writers’ that I found really inspiring to watch and be a part of. It was also a great opportunity for all of us to travel to New York and perform outside of the competition, where we featured at the Bowery and had a go competing at the Nuyorican.

What is your creative process?

I’ve found it varies depending on what I’m writing. I know after I performed for the first time I ended up awake until the odd hours of the morning manically writing my next poem. Most of my writing starts out with a vague theme or a line written down in my phone or some notebook. If I’m given a prompt I can usually write something I like pretty quickly, but coming up with themes can be a bit of a hurdle for me unless I hear or see something that strikes a raw nerve. If I see something that ‘triggers’ me in a way, it can lead to manic late-night writing, just so I can get it out and go to sleep. Once I have something that I want to perform or an idea that needs to be fleshed out, I say it to myself over and over until I’ve memorized it and can rework the bits that don’t sound right.

How do you find the focus of your poetry?

I don’t really. I’m horribly inconsistent. If I’ve found something I like to work on I obsess until I get it right, but I go months without writing anything. I have found if I’m working with a group of people or I’m doing something like the Dirty Thirty Challenge online, then I can prioritize writing, mainly because I have someone or something to answer to. Otherwise, I’m fairly useless.

How has your life or environment inspired your poetry?

Just about everything that I have performed is based on my life or my family. Growing up in the Blue Mountains and spending my early adult years in Sydney also heavily influenced the imagery and themes I tend to gravitate towards.

What is the best poetry you have heard or written?

I used Rilke’s Put Out My Eyes as my wedding vows, so I kind of dig that piece. Also, Leonard can always break my heart. Seeing him perform A Thousand Kisses Deep live without any backing music was like a punch in the chest.

Are there any themes or motifs that you gravitate to?

Most of what I write is heavily autobiographical, drawing from my experiences in childhood, and the family history that has been passed down. I also write a lot about relationships, mental illness and experiences around gendered violence. There’s a lot of heavy stuff in there, but I do try to add at least a little bit of humour here and there.

Any Upcoming Events?

I think the next gig I have booked is not until November. I’ve just finished writing and illustrating a book of poetry called House of Broken Things, so I’m hoping to release that soon.

Any tips for the upcoming Poet?

The best piece of advice I got about writing was to ask yourself if it’s actually your story to tell.

I think if you’re planning on performing your poetry, memorize it. It makes such a huge difference in the quality of the performance if you’re able to look up at your audience rather than relying on your phone or paper.

Show this Legend Some Love!!!!!!

Comment below or let me know who we should interview next!!!

As always any Poets/Artists/Groups/DJs/producers hit us up for an interview or Tag your Favorite Artists!!!!

Peace