A TELLING PERFORMER
Young Dawkins has a Huon pine cup in his arms and a twinkle in his eye when he talks about the storytelling event at the annual Huon Valley Mid-Winter Fest. The slam poet and spoken-word performer won his timber trophy at the Huon Valley Storytellers Cup in 2017, and will be back at next weekend’s festival as a performer and coach.
The pagan-inspired harvest celebration, now in its fifth year, will be held at Ranelagh Showgrounds for the first time, having outgrown its home at Willie Smith’s Apple Shed at Grove. The storytelling marquee is expected to pack out its new pitch.
“It’s become a really big thing,” says Dawkins. “It’s part of the beating heart of the whole festival.”
Oral storytelling is one of the ancient rituals reprised at the weekend celebration, when many guests don furs, horns, leaf headdresses and wassailing rags to dance, play and sip locally grown cider and feast from numerous food stalls.
Mid-Winter Fest opens on Friday night with a spiritcleansing ceremony by Aboriginal cultural group Nayri Niara, and the ritualistic burning of giant wicker man Big Willie.
Saturday night includes a spirit-scaring wassailing performance and bonfire, as well as the Storytellers Cup.
Dawkins is one of eight finalists vying for more than $800 in prizes. The freshly anointed Australian, who is American by birth and works in philanthropic fundraising and communication, came to live storytelling via page poetry, then performance poetry. It wasn’t until he migrated to Tasmania four years ago with his wife Ruth and their young son that he found his new form. “A genre shift has followed me as I move from continent to continent, loosening up as I go,” he says.
Raised on Rudyard Kipling poetry read aloud by his father, he studied creative writing in New Hampshire and published poetry before joining a beat revival group. One night in Portsmouth an experimental jazz band lured him into a bar.
“A woman was standing in front of a microphone reciting a poem and I said, ‘that’s it, that’s what I want to do’,” he says.
“I thought my page poetry would be fine to perform, but it wasn’t. I didn’t know how to really connect with the audience.“
He honed his performance skills and won the Scottish National Slam Poetry Championship in 2011, competing at international level in Paris. He says his breakthrough was becoming more open and having more fun on stage.
“It’s a really intense experience,” he says. “It’s happening in the moment, and when that connection is made, that’s the power of it, and that’s what makes it fun for both the audience and storyteller.”
Mercury Associate Editor Amanda Ducker is co-judging the Storytellers Cup with radio personality Dave Noonan and professional storyteller Martin Maudsley.
Mid-Winter Fest, at Ranelagh Showgrounds, 49 Marguerite St, Ranelagh, starts on Friday night and runs until Sunday. Adult weekend passes cost $84.81, and day tickets are also available. The festival is free for Under 16s. but please book online. Adult storytelling Saturday and children’s on Sunday, Family Day. For bookings and more details visit huonvalleymidwinterfest.com.au