|
Introduction
The Red Room Company creates, promotes and publishes a spectrum of poetry by Australian writers, in unusual ways.
Through a range of forms such as radio, new media and live performance we broaden the public's definition of and experience with high quality Australian poetry.
Our projects focus on commissioning new Australian poetry and developing imaginative contexts in which this poetry can be creatively and critically explored.
We focus on supporting the work of young and emerging writers through individual projects and ‘Papercuts’, our poetry education program launched in 2007.
The Company started its life in 2003 as a community radio show featuring interviews with and performances by new Australian poets.
Johanna Featherstone was the founder and is the current Artistic Director of the company.
Our supporters include The Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, The Australia Council for the Arts, Arts NSW, The Ian Potter Foundation and The Keir Foundation.
The Red Room Company is a not-for-profit company based in Sydney, Australia.
From Feb 7th – May 9th The Australia Council Offices, 372 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, Sydney featured a window display of our major projects since 2003.
Two Thousand and Eight
View our program here
Advisory Team
The Red Room Company's advisory board is a trio of Australian poets, selected each year to assist with the development of our projects. The team is a source of advice, feedback and judgment in relation to poems submitted to our projects, and encourages suitable poets to submit their work to the Company. All team members have been or are participants in a Red Room Company Project.
From mid-2008, instead of making public call-outs, The Red Room Company will be directly soliciting and selecting poets for its projects. The advisory board supports this approach by adding to the ever-increasing pool of talent that has not yet worked with Red Room: emerging and unknown poets encountered at readings and events; poets who submit work directly to us through the year; and more established voices whose poetry or poetics suits a particular project. As individuals, the board members act as correspondents from the frontline of Australian poetry, as well as a critical mass on project shortlists.
Our team in 2008 comprises of Jaya Savage, Jill Jones, Lisa Gorton and Mike Ladd, alongside Johanna Featherstone, Bonny Cassidy and Fiona Wright.
History of the Red Room Company
The Red Room Company grew out of the Red Room Radio Show on 89.7fm Eastside Radio. Produced and presented by Johanna Featherstone Red Room Radio began in 2001. The show broadcast original poetry, writing, reviews and interviews with Australian writers to a local Sydney audience. The show’s focus was to bring new poetry and writing to a wide audience that included poets, poetry lovers and those listeners not normally familiar with poetry.
In 2002 The Red Room Epic project was created, it commissioned 30 writers (under 35 years of age) to write poetry for national community radio broadcast and online. Poets were interviewed and an audio epic poem was crafted. This project won the prestigious ‘Best New innovative radio program’ at the 2002 National Community Radio awards run by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia.
By the end of 2002 The Red Room radio show and the red room project had developed a network of poets and poetry supporters Australia wide. In order to continue creating original poetry inspired projects for the public in a free and creative environment Johanna Featherstone established The Red Room Company.
The Red Room Company gratefully acknowledges the support of The Vincent Fairfax Foundation , The Australia Council for the Arts, The JB Seeds foundation , The City of Sydney, The Ian Potter Foundation and Tin Chook.
We also thank our in-kind supporters and private donors for their ongoing interest in and passion for The Red Room Company and Australian Poetry.
Our production workshop is based at The Unversity of Sydney.
All website portraits & illustrations created by Tonee Messiah
The 2008 Red Room Company
| Johanna Featherstone |
Artistic Director
Johanna established the Red Room Company in 2003. She has produced and presented Red Room Radio show since 2001. Her poetry has featured in journals such as Quadrant, and the Best Australian Poems. In 2006 she created a series of literary TV shows The Wordshed, in partnership with The University of Western Sydney where she is a research associate. Johanna is an honorary associate with The University of Sydney's School of Letters Arts and Media. From 2007-2009 Johanna will be part of the St James Ethics Center Vincent Fairfax Fellowship . |
 |
 |
Libby Davidson |
Director
Libby is Deputy General Counsel Corporate for Lion Nathan Limited. Lion Nathan is an international beer, wine and spirits company. She specializes in intellectual property and general commercial/corporate law and has also worked for Clayton Utz and PepsiCo. |
|
|
Elliott Wheeler |
Director
Elliott is a Sydney based composer for film, television and advertising.
His awards include the 2004 Tropfest for best original score, St Kilda Film Festival for best original score and multiple winner of best score for Award, ATV, APRA awards, and Kodak Gongs. He was musical director of Nylon studios ( www.nylonstudios.com) from 2002-07. |
 |
|
Henry Ergas |
Director
Henry Ergas is one of Australia's most respected economists, and has helped shape the Australian telecommunications, energy and transport industries. Henry formed economics consulting company, Network Economics Consulting Group (NECG) in 1987 (at that time called Ergas & Associates), selling it to one of the world’s largest US-based business and economics consulting practices, CRA, in 2004. Henry remains CRA’s Regional Head of Asia Pacific.
|
|
|
Jane Thorn
|
Alternate Director
Jane has had a varied career, beginning her professional career as a librarian in the public and private sector, and working as a researcher for Telstra and www.consult, and IT manager for Network Economics Consulting Group (NECG). She holds an arts degree from the University of WA and a qualification in librarianship from Curtin University.
|
|
|
Julia Burns |
Director
Julia is a Senior Manager in Financial Service division of KPMG Sydney’s audit and risk advisory services. She specialises in property, banking and finance industries. Her current clients include Macquarie Goodman Management Limited, ING Australia and HSBC |
|
|
Fiona Wright |
Researcher (Sponsorship, Media, Audience Development and Poetry)
Fiona is a published poet, her work featuring in journals including Going Down Swinging, Vanguard and Hermes. Fiona also works as a poetry editor for Heat literary journal. In 2007 Fiona was a writer-in-residence at the Tasmanian Writers' Center. |
|
|
Bonny Cassidy |
Chief Researcher and Assistant to Artistic Director
Bonny is a PhD candidate in the Department of English, University of Sydney, completing a dissertation on the ethics of reading and writing in the 1970s poetry of Jennifer Rankin and Jennifer Maiden. Bonny is currently Chief Researcher for The Red Room Company, having worked on public projects including 'Poetry Picture Show', 'Toilet Doors Poetry' and this year's 'Occasional Poetry'. Her own poetry has appeared in various journals including HEAT and Southerly, and has been translated into Serbian for the journal, Trci Trg. She is also a member of the PEN Young Writers' Committee. |
|
|
Sandra Krumins
|
In-House Designer & Illustrator
Sandra's work has featured in Red Room projects since 2006. Sandra's company, Lino creative is a boutique graphic design and illustration studio providing innovative and affordable graphic design. Lino creative began working closely with The Red Room Company with Occasional Poetry for the 2006 Sydney Writers Festival.
|
|
|
Tamryn Bennett |
Special Objects Curator/Designer
Tamryn Bennett studied poetry at The University of Wollongong, writes poetry and is a talented designer of objects , hand bound books and artists' books. Tamryn designs a range of small and special objects to accompany our projects.
|
|
|
Andrew Garrick |
Moving Image and Video Consultant
Andrew is a Sydney based writer, director and editor of film, television and music video. He currently works with MTV. |
|
|
Tony Britten |
Education Consultant
Tony Britten is an English teacher at SCEGGS Darlinghurst and co-writer of our education program 'Papercuts'. Tony also presented a workshop at the 2007 'English Teachers' Conference' in Sydney which launched our Papercuts program, for 2008.
|
|
|
|
