You’re invited! Now in its second year the Spoke Word Festival March 13 — 172012, offers Adelaide writers and readers a unique opportunity to strut their stuff, intermingle and address issues from more than one angle; self-sustaining creativity fuelling the now and forever afters. Mostly free, mostly spell-checked and massively entertaining. Here are a few of the five day festival highlights: Improetry Slam Workshop @X Space(AC Arts 39 Light Square) Tuesday, March 13 from 6:30 pm until 8 pm Description So you think you can write /rap /perform /act /speak /slam? Spoke throws down the gauntlet for ALL-comers. Step up and step OUT of your safety zone in this ninety minute workshop on poetry improvisation, «Improetry» You’ll be taken on a twisted journey through strange time zones where one minute can seem like an eternity and words such as ‘cauliflower’ can morph into anything your imagination fancies. This is a JOURNEY you can’t afford to miss! SPOKE2012 Improetry Slam @Shimmering West Tuesday, March 13 from 8:30pm until 11:30pm Description So do you think you can rap/write/perform/act/speak/slam? SPOKE throws down the gauntlet for ALL comers. No paper, no time for practice, this one is for the fast-shooters of the poetry /rap /performing /acting /slam scenes. SPOKE gives it up! ACTIVATE! Thursday, March 15 champions activism. Times 6:00pm until 7:00pm. Shimmering West @ AC Arts, 39 Light Square, Adelaide, Australia Description SPOKE gives it up! Welcomes wordsmiths along to present their ideas in three minutes or less, SPOKE’s popular open mic session is happening over three evenings, each with their own theme. So poets and writers come along and take a turn at the microphone between 6pm and 7pm let us hear your wit, wisdom or whimsy. Magnificent MC, Jeanne Hurrell, will take your registrations from 5pm on the night. Words’n’action Forum hosted by David Jobling Thursday, March 15 at 8:00pm @ AC Arts Library A fun interactive forum for people who want to know more about activating the community: Should writers really be seen and not heard or herded by the unseen? If the personal is political does that mean everything you write is a political act? Is there any such thing as freedom of speech? Is talk still cheap? Who makes the decisions when it comes to censorship? What is the distance between what people say and what they do? Is physics activism? If the universe really is expanding, why are the minds of humans getting smaller? How many queers does it take to carry a protest banner? Why should a multinational mining company have the right to blot out a whole spicies without the species being informed? Is no news really good news(or) bad news better news than no news? Just who do you think you are anyway? So prove it! Broadcaster and social commentator David Jobling hosts a collection of very special guests as they explore current trends in activism.