So, I’ll assume that now you are all familiar with my new fantabulous website you will expect regular blogs from me and this here is one of them! The year is quickly wrapping up and time seems intent on speeding up. There is loads of great stuff happening and last night was no exception. The Red Room Company (http://redroomcompany.org/) is an incredible organisation that commissioned me to produce a poem based on my time with the Wollongong Illawara Roller Derby League. Instead of just handing them a poem, I decided I wanted to collaborate with my favourite photographer Nicola Bailey (www.nicolabailey.com) and produce something a little bit different. We embarked on a photo shoot where we sought to explore the integration of poetry and photography and came up with a great body of work called ‘Violence’. The exhibition launched last night with a bang attended by a bunch of poetry and photography enthusiasts including Mr John Fairfax himself. It will continue on throughout the weekend and it the only way to see the images so get over to the Rocks and check them out in the pop-up gallery at 77 George Street Sydney (finishes Sunday).

Moving on to another exciting project, let’s talk about ‘Stories by Starlight’ which I will be touring next year. (Some will know that the first show is actually this year on the 3rd of December in Sydney at a super secret venue. It’s a preview for those people who continue to support me and what I do).

For those who don’t yet know exactly what ‘Stories by Starlight’ is, its essentially a poetic extravaganza involving the incredible musical trio Sloppy Joe, a couple of brilliant burlesque and performance artists (which will change state to state), a few other co-conspirator collaborators and of course – me! I personally feel that it is my best work to date and so if you liked/loved/were amazed by the show I toured last year ‘Love Spectacular’ then prepare to be totally, like, blown away man! If you didn’t like ‘Love Spectacular’ well, then, give this one a go anyway…

The tour kicks off as part of Midsumma where the event is featuring as a ‘Premier Event’ and will be happening at the 1000 £ Bend Gallery (it’s a great venue, check it out here: http://thousandpoundbend.com.au/). We’ll be doing four shows as well as making an appearance at Carnival – I am so excited about that! I’ll also be doing a number of guest/feature spots around town at the great poetry events that Melbourne manages to sustain. If you want to get your dirty paws on some tickets for the Midsumma shows then head here: http://sa2.seatadvisor.com/sabo/servlets/TicketRequest?eventId=100395430&presenter=AUMIDSUMMA&venue=&event= and then click attending here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=285289521510283

Not too long after Midsumma we’ll be back in Sydney to do an event or two that I can’t yet talk about but suffice to say I’m almost bursting out of my skin to tell you all about. In any case, keep your eyes and ears peeled if you live in Sydney and are keen to see what we’re up to.

After Sydney our whirlwind tour will continue to the Adelaide Fringe Festival where we will be doing a number of shows at the Queens Theatre (another amazing venue). Tickets aren’t on sale yet but as soon as they are, I’ll let you all know.

Lastly, please feel free to contact me with feedback etc and let me know whats going on in your world.
Also, please feel free to click like here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Candy-Royalle/104254722939945

Peace, Love, Respect,
Candy Royalle

The thing I’m most excited about at the moment is my upcoming Secret Gig: ‘Stories by Starlight’ on the 3rd of December. The costumes are being designed, my co-conspirators and I have been rehearsing, there’s musicians and singers and of course me! If you don’t yet have a ticket, you’ll need to follow the steps listed on the facebook event page which you can access here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=246941895344721 (for those of you who don’t use facebook, hit me up at candy@candyroyalle.com and I’ll send you details).

The ‘Stories by Starlight’ east coast (and maybe national!) tour will begin in Melbourne at the Midsumma festival where the show is a premier event! We will also be at Carnival – so exciting! For those of you not in Melbourne or Sydney, keep your eyes and ears peeled for dates because we will be bringing the show to a city near you soon!

Another exciting development has been the creation of the ‘Stories by Starlight’ video (which you can see here:). This was a collaborative effort spanning Australia, Sweden and the UK all done thanks to the brilliance of my collaborators over the interweb. This is one of my favorite poems as it conjures memories of performing under an open night sky filled with stars, to a group of beautiful hippies somewhere in the north of Queensland at a doof (for those not familiar with this Australian term, a ‘doof’ is an outdoor bush rave). I’d love to know your thoughts on this piece (or any others actually!) so feel free to drop me a line here or on facebook.

Remember, add me on twitter (link) and facebook (link) and check back here regularly for gig updates, media, poetry news and other exciting stuff!

Peace, Love and Respect to all,
Candy Royalle
October 2011