PHOEBE ROBERSTON (SHE/HER)
The Great Sounds Great festival, now in its third year and produced by Eyegum Music Collective, will take place on the 31st of August. This year, for the first time, the lineup includes poets. I spoke with Ash Davida Jane, the poetry coordinator for the festival, to get more details.
As a poetry enthusiast and writer myself (no surprises if you listen to the Podcast), I don't typically associate poetry with Eyegum’s usual events. However, Jane explained that poetry has been part of the Eyegum Music Collective canon for years. The Collective’s main focus has been the Welcome to Nowhere festival, a three-day event near Whanganui, which has incorporated poetry, art, comedy, and even theatre alongside music. Jane pitched the inclusion of poetry in this year’s festival, and “everyone else was really into it.”
The headliner for the poetry segment is Hera Lindsay Bird, who I like to call the Lorde of Aotearoa poetry. Jane shared, “Bird's self-titled debut changed the game for poetry here and made a huge difference for the reputation of New Zealand poetry globally. Anyone who’s heard her read will confirm that she’s an amazing performer, and her poems are genuinely very funny.”
Next on the lineup is Khadro Mohamed, who published her debut collection, We’re All Made of Lightning (Tender Press), in 2022 to great acclaim. Her poetry is a unique blend of being “simultaneously soft and outspoken.” Khadro is also deeply involved in the community, organising events, editing zines, and advocating for political accountability in the arts. Jane noted, “Having seen how deeply so many readers have connected with Khadro’s work, I’m looking forward to more people getting to hear her poems.”
The final performer is Jackson McCarthy, an emerging poet whose charisma on stage always leaves a lasting impression. Jackson represents a new generation of young poets in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, producing incredible work and building a strong community. His writing is described as tender, full of pathos, often funny, and remarkably clever.
If that lineup hasn’t already won you over, Jane is confident the festival will. The greatest advantage of Great Sounds Great is the remarkable number of performances you get for your money. While tickets are $89 (plus booking fee), Jane notes that it’s much cheaper than an arena concert, which can cost around $250. Plus, you get access to six venues with seven stages over nine hours, featuring 30 different artists, including the poets mentioned above. They explained that they “make festival tickets as cheap as [they] can while doing right by the artists playing.” If you have the funds you can’t get a better deal than Great Sounds Great.
If the price tag is inaccessible, keep heading to Eyegum Wednesdays for fantastic local music, without the usual price tag.