Bard of Bondi back on the boards
BY VIRGINIA GUTHRIE
He writes of blinding sun, of cats stretching on still-warm footpaths, of a childhood smelling like wet dog and bitumen on roads that bubbled under feet.
He’s Adam Gibson, dubbed the ‘Bard of Bondi’ by radio’s Mike Carlton, and he and his band The Aerial Maps will perform on May 22 at The Mint as part of the Sydney Writers Festival, co-presented with the Historic Houses Trust (HHT) as part of trustwords.
‘It should be a beauty as I’m doing it for the first time with my band so it’s spoken word with a musical backing. Very tasteful,’ exudes the unabashedly proud Australian.
‘I want to celebrate our lives as Australians and talk about the things that are important to us – whether we come from Bondi or Broome. I talk about our sense of place, the powerful images of growing up here. I want to celebrate how lucky we are.’
In his genre of the spoken word, which harks back to the Beat writers of the ’50s, Gibson speaks of themes of space and light and distance. On the night at The Mint, he wants to take people on ‘a bit of a journey around this hard, dry, sunburnt country of ours’.
‘When we play, people can close their eyes and imagine experiencing it. Quite evocative,’ he said.
The event will be a night of tasteful exuberance that will also serve to promote the band’s debut album, coming out in late June.
Gibson is a performer and a writer. He has published three books of poetry and the manuscript of his first novel, Blinding Sunlight, was short listed for the Australian/Vogel Award.
His poetry, fiction and short stories have been published in magazines and periodicals around Australia. He has also done performance poetry gigs around the country, reading at events such as the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the National Young Writers’ Festival.
Adam Gibson, the Bard of Bondi and his band The Aerial Maps will perform at The Mint 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney, 7pm. Cost: $10/$8. Book on 8239 2211.
