Poetry Slam is coming to Forbes and you're invited! In the lead up to the Poetry Slam we will be hosting a free workshop with Miles Merrill and there are still places available. It is part of the Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival:

Australian Poetry Slam Free Workshop at 11am in the Reading and Writing Tent, Lake Forbes Foreshore. Please book your place at Forbes Library on 6852 1463

Then it is all action and fun for the Australian Poetry Slam. It is not a poetry reading though. It's more like a howling literary campfire with verbal voodoo, breathless rhythms and sweat breaking nerves. Anyone can get up and have a go or be in the audience and you could be a judge!

**Please note new start time**

Australian Poetry Slam Forbes Heat - Main Stage 12 noon, Sign up 11.30am Lake Forbes Foreshore along Buck Bentick Walk, via Lachlan Street, Forbes

Check out www.riverartsfestival.org.au and www.australianpoetryslam.com

Imagine two minutes in the spotlight. No props. No music. Judged by the audience. Just you... and your story.

The Australian Poetry Slam is not a poetry reading. It's more like a howling literary campfire with verbal voodoo, breathless rhythms and sweat breaking nerves. Think Hilltop Hoods mashed with Obama, a line of Paul Kelly, a few pinches of Judith Lucy, and a test tube of Les Murray all vying for audience love.

Writers need to perform well in their regional heat and place in their state final. Two finalists from each state and territory will meet in Sydney to battle with their words on the main stage of the Sydney Theatre for the Australian Poetry Slam Final National Final. One will be crowned Australia's Slam Champion.

Come and find out what it is all about at the Australian Poetry Slam Workshop:

Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, Reading and Writing Tent, Lake Forbes Foreshore along Buck Bentick Walk, Sunday 4 September at 11am, Please book your place at Forbes Library on 6852 1463.

Then perform your poem, story, hip hop or whatever at the Australian Poetry Slam Forbes Heat:

**Please note new start time** Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, Lake Forbes Foreshore along Buck Bentick Walk, Sunday 4 September, 12 noon on the main stage, please sign up from 11.30am, Hosted by Miles Merrill.

Check out these sites for more details: www.australianpoetryslam.com and/or www.riverartsfestival.org.au

The Kate Kelly Project and partner organisations are proud to announce the premiere of the Kate Kelly Song Cycle, a musical tribute to the life and times of Ned's sister Kate, by composer Ross Carey and Forbes-based writer Merrill Findlay. This important new musical work will be performed in Forbes on Sunday 4 September 2011 beside the lagoon in which Kate Kelly's body was found in 1898.

The premiere and associated cultural events will be directed by Sydney Theatre Company's resident director, Stefo Nantsou, who will be visiting Forbes on Monday 20 December 2010 to meet prospective participants and anyone interested in the project.

All those interested in the Song Cycle and associated 'surprise' events are invited to meet Stefo at a barbecue lunch beside the Forbes lagoon on 20 December - but please register asap with Forbes Shire Council on 02 6850 2300.

Sharyn Killens is better known as Sharyn Crystal, a successful Australian singer and entertainer. But her life wasn't always glamorous and her childhood was at times a living hell. The Inconvenient Child is the true account of her extraordinary journey to success and her quest to discover her African-American heritage. Sharyn and Lindsay have been friends for twenty years and met during their time as entertainers. Their close relationship and music background makes for a lively yet emotional author talk, keeping their audience enthralled as they recount Sharyn's extraordinary story and her often difficult journey through life. This story is not all heartbreak - it's a story of triumph, faith, success and joy.

Come along and hear the story of The Inconvenient Child at one of these locations:

Orange City Library, Monday 7 June at 1pm

Forbes Library Wednesday 9 June at 2pm

Cowra Library Thursday 10 June at 10.30am

Please RSVP by calling the Library you wish to attend.

Galileo is one of the fathers of modern science. He was a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer and 2009 is the 400th anniversary of Galileo's development of the telescope and his first pointing it to the heavens with such earth-shattering results. His book Dialogo dei massimi sistemi (Dialogue on the two chief world systems), his celebrated defence of the Copernican system, was published in Florence in 1632. It led to his house arrest and the banning of his books in Italy. The only copy of this book in Australia is held by the State Library of New South Wales and it has never before left Sydney until now.......... You are invited to see this rare book and hear Paul Brunton, Senior curator from the State Library of NSW, speak at Forbes Library,Victoria Lane, Forbes on Friday 16 October at 1pm for a 1.15pm start. Please RSVP by calling the Library on 6852 1463.

A concert featuring Paul Brunton and professional musicians from Orange Regional Conservatorium of Music performing Monteverdi (Heavenly Bodies Galileo and Monteverdi: A Feast of 17th Century Italian Genius) will also be held on Thursday 15 October at the Conservatorium at 7.30pm. For tickets ($35 Adults , $25 Concession) please contact Book City on 6393 1333. All funds raised will support the Conservatorium and Library.

The rare Galileo Book will also be on display at Orange City Library on Thursday afternoon. Paul is pictured above on a previous visit to the Central West.