ID 0:02
This is a Vision Australia Radio Podcast.
Kate Cooper 0:19
On Vision Australia Radio, welcome to our conversations with emerging and experienced creative voices in our community. I'm Kate Cooper, and this week we're bringing you some highlights from our conversation in August 2024 with Tracey O'Callaghan - writer, poet, storyteller, word weaver and spoken word performer. We've selected these highlights because on Friday, 28 February, Tracey is holding her first solo fringe show as part of the 2025 Adelaide Fringe Festival, which runs from 21 February to 23 March. Tracey's solo show has the same title as her book: Brains, Balls and Banter, a collection of her poems that was published in 2023 and is available via her website.
Tracy's website has the fabulous title The Queen of sass, and includes video recordings of her performances, which our listeners can access. Tracy is performed both competitively and as feature poet for spoken word events around Adelaide and internationally. She's been a State and National Poetry Slam finalist and was state champion in 2021 in the excerpts that follow, we'll revisit the story of Tracy's book and its production and hear some of her poetry performances. We begin with Tracey's performance of her powerful poem, I Raised a Daughter.
Tracey O'Callaghan 1:49
This one is for us, women and girls...
I've Raised a Daughter. It wasn't a party. When she lets rip, there's eye rolling, head rolling. She's like a fox. Terry has knocked back a Red Bull. Her laser death stare, you cannot compare. I've raised a daughter, and I did not teach myself to feel fear for her, but it shimmed along the edge of her childhood, and me lioness pacing around the perimeter of her life, knowing some boys we raised to believe women are beneath them, so I teach my daughter to take a stand, in a world where those boys become men who live in prints of fists, walk away with a slap on the wrist. I'll teach my daughter that No is a complete sentence that her body is hers to own, not theirs, and then unwelcome handprints are not welcome, and invites will be rare.
So I teach my daughter to have an opinion, like a machete that cuts right through the bullshit to offend when backed in a corner, and she knows she only has five seconds to turn into the attacker, just so she can walk away. So I tell my daughter, Don't go for walks after dark, because darkness blends people into trees, slides, forms against walls and careful of corners, you have got to walk wide around the corners and listen listen to footsteps that match your own. So I've taught my daughter, if a look or a voice makes her skin crawl, if her gut is telling her to run, then run for your life, my girl. And she knows, if she is ever harmed by another, I will hunt you down. Do what I need to do. Because I am a mother. I did not teach myself to feel fear for her. History taught me that.
Kate Cooper 3:53
Tracey, I first heard you perform that at the Poetry at the Port. And as the mother of a daughter, it really blew me away, and so it's fantastic to hear you perform it again for us. Thank you so much. Like all of your poetry, it is really powerful and very relatable. As a spoken word poet, Tracey has taken part in more than 50 events over recent years. When she started out, Tracey received support and encouragement from the team at Spoken Word SA, which inspired her to keep performing and overcome her nervousness. For many people, performing their poetry in public can be really nerve wracking, and Tracey writes about this on her website.
I asked Tracey what experiences she could share about how she prepares for a performance to manage any feelings of nervousness. Then I followed that up with a question about performing her poems from memory.
Tracey O'Callaghan 4:53
Well, I use quite a few different techniques, but breathing techniques is one of them. I will massage the. Side of my jaws, because they'll get really, really tight because I clench my teeth. I cannot sit still. Pre performance, I pace and I take myself off into another zone or an area. I listen to motivational sections of paltry or music also, and I tell my nerves and excitement to meet in the middle and behave. I also attach no outcome to the end result. Now I step up to the mic each time with the aim to give my poems the respect they deserve as my name is called out, I take myself back to what motivated me to write the poem in the first place.
Kate Cooper 5:37
Tracey, at the poetry at the port event in May 2024 you performed your poetry without any notes. How hard is it to remember your poems for a performance and to keep the beat going? How do you manage it so effectively? Because it was really powerful the way you did it there.
Tra 5:55
Well, thank you, Kate. I work very hard. I sometimes look at a new poem that I've written and going, There is no way on earth I'm going to remember that. So I practice non stop until I get it right. I print off the poem and blue tack it in my car, and practice and critique and make changes to the poem. The red light I learned the first stance, and once I remembered that one, I move on to the next one. And then there is the timing when you enter comps. There is a two minute limit for each poem, so I aim for 10 seconds off two minutes. I performed the poems in front of my family and friends to practice when I'm competing. And they're pretty... critical of some of them, but it's just continued practice. I wake up and I say, the poems are getting the car, I've signed the poem in the shower. I've got the poems. It's repetitious, is the key, and perfecting it.
Kate Cooper 6:46
Next, we'll hear another performance of one of Tracey's poems, titled Wild Child.
Tracey O'Callaghan 6:54
They wanted a flat lining, spread thin. They invited her in, then shut her out. They wanted her beneath them, trodden into the ground, kiss in the dirt where she belonged. They wanted a tainted, taunted, defeated eyes hidden beneath long lashes with her head hung low. They wanted her a dribbling mess for the second guess. They were merciless. They wanted a beaten, broken, a clone cut from cloth they created. They wanted a scarred, scared, barred, left free, fallen whiplash smacks her against her back as she fell through the cracks. Welt marks on young skin as she caught on the edges of not quite fitting in.
They wanted her black cross on forehead marked. They want her included, excluded, trapped nerve endons, rubber band tight across small chest, her bulletproof vest. They wanted her in knots, off kilter, odd, not quite right. They wanted her to snap back bite, react. They wanted to reach inside her throat, grab her last breath, if only they knew this wild child welcomed the thought of death. They want a deer like caught in headlights. They wanted a cardboard cut out paper doll press. They wanted oppressed, stressed, ignored. They wanted to pick at her like a smorgasbord until only the dregs were left.
They wanted her to believe she didn't belong in any place, that her birth was a mistake. They wanted her to fall apart at the seams, fold into herself until she disappeared, broken puzzle pieces turning into dust. They wanted her gone. Little did they know she'd already left.
Kate Cooper 8:52
Tracey, that's an incredibly powerful poem, and your delivery, the pacing, the rhymes that come within the poem, but also at the end, it's fantastic to listen to. Thank you.
Tracey O'Callaghan 9:07
Thanks you, Kate. It means a lot to me. Thank you.
Kate Cooper 9:10
As we mentioned in the introduction, Tracey's solo show has the same title as her book, Brains, Balls and Banter, a collection of her poems that was published in 2023 CAMI a co founder of spoken word essay, wrote of this collection that to see and hear Tracey O'Callaghan live is to feel the drive and passion she brings to her art. She commands your attention and draws you into her world, where she spits the words out as if they're burning inside her and need know have to be released. It has been one of life's pleasures to watch Tracey develop her poetry, her performance skills and fine tune her craft since she first nervously stepped onto the stage to become the firebrand she is today.
If you haven't yet seen her perform. I urge you to correct that mistake. Until then, this collection will give you just a hint of the zeal and energy she brings. Hers is a voice that you know will still be heard in years to come. And as I read these poems, I once again feel that passion. Now it's your turn - those were the words of Kami from Spoken Word SA. I asked Tracey about the process of putting together her poetry collection for publication and what she learned from that process.
Tracey O'Callaghan 10:31
Well, it was a process. The poems that I put together for the first draft of the book was just a lot that I had performed and got feedback from and done did all well, very well in the comps with so I formatted the first draft and sent it off to my person who was going to edit, Steve Evans, and he was quite impressed with the poems and the choice and the layout with only a couple of changes, which I was waiting for a whole spin around of everything. So that was that was fantastic. It was a bonus. So that was the first part.
So then, after he's sent it all back, and I needed to make quite a few small changes, which definitely made the poems fall better on the pages. And he also encouraged me to go further with a couple of the poems that I could do more with which I did, I found it quite a struggle to get people to be involved, asking for reviews, and then people would commit, and then didn't commit, then that was just their hurdles you're going to get in any book. So I regrouped, got a bit overwhelmed and went back in again and just had the support, which was profoundly humbling, and that was of Steve Evans as my editor. Rob DeKock was my typesetter, an absolute saint and legend. He was instrumental with the ideas of how to improve the intro and ending in all aspects of the book cover, front and back.
And a few times or two, I felt like thrown in the towel, but, of course, I didn't. And then you had Jack Vaughn and Gillespie. He was another complete stranger through a friend that read the book and reviewed it, and these were people that just gave so unselfishly. And so at the end, it was quite easy. Just fell into place. I got the venue that I wanted. I got a local Griffin press to to put the book together, and it just, it worked.
Kate Cooper 12:33
Fantastic. And I really loved reading your book. If our listeners want to get hold of a copy, how can they do that?
Tracey O'Callaghan 12:40
They can contact me through my website, which is www dot The Queen of Sass dot com dot AU.
Kate Cooper 12:50
On Tracey's website, The Queen of Sass, the musician and artist Jack bull writes... Tracey's work is highly charged with her unique energy and filled the brim with sassiness. But it's not a hollow, nihilistic sass, more of an intelligent and playful bossiness that, along with her signature wit and charisma, serves to set very clear boundaries regarding what she will and won't tolerate.
I asked Tracey what is available on her website, and also the story behind the name, The Queen of Sass, thequeenofsass.com.au ...
Tracey O'Callaghan 13:26
I smile every time that I say that is because I could not believe that had not been taken when I let's just go The Queen of Sass. So on my website, I have an intro of all about my poetry journey from 2018 some of my performances can be seen on there. As we said, my book launch is on there. The whole performance. There's a radio interview of Peter Gurr's. You can also order my book, Brains, Balls and Banter.
Kate Cooper 13:56
That's great. And what's the story behind the name, which no one else had thought to take, the Queen of Sass?
Tracey O'Callaghan 14:03
Well, this may shock everybody, but I've actually been called sassy, so and the Queen of Sass. Here she is, the Queen of Sass. And look, I like it. It's better than some things I've been called, and it does reflect on my performance style. But Tracy McNally officially named and crowned me with an actual handcrafted crown back in 2021 - and the name has stuck. I still have the crown.
Kate Cooper 14:30
Tracey, that sassiness does come through your poetry in the form of a real confidence, and you mentioned before about not having fear when you were performing your poem, I raised a daughter that must all be part of that sassiness. It's rising above fear and being confident about your own voice. But that took you...
Trac 14:59
Years... like I would practice in the mirror and go, you know, and the fear would be that be tapping on the shoulder, going, Oh, are you going to get up there and do this? So I stopped performing in front of the mirror. I'm going, I don't need to do that. And I just going, I'm going to do it. What is the worst that can happen to me? Nothing. And I, like I said, I made my excitement, my nerves, meet in the middle and behave.
Kate Cooper 15:26
And they certainly do, while we're talking about this story behind the name. Would you tell us about the term "word weaver", which is used on your website? It's a beautiful expression. I love it. How did it come about?
Tracey O'Callaghan 15:40
I just like, it's like anything with my writing, I just sort of came up with it, and I've used the term in in a friendship way, with people I've met in the the creative arts community here in Adelaide, because this is a whole new thing for me. I'm a sports person, like, I hid my writing so, you know, like people are going, what are you doing now? Haven't seen me for five years, and they go, Oh, poetry. And their shutters go down. I'm going, Oh, I don't have to discuss it anymore. Do you know?
So this is Oh, it's just, yeah, it is what it is. Word weaving. I use the term, how you going? You amazing. Word Weaver. It's just got a flow. Word weaving has a certain tone to it. It's musical. It's a mellow it's like a beat, and I often find myself riding to a beat. I'll get a song in my head and I'll actually write a poem from the beat of that song.
Kate Cooper 16:36
On Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to our conversation program Emerging Writers. Our guest today is Tracey O'Callaghan - writer, poet, storyteller, word weaver and spoken word performer. Earlier in the program, we gave a shout out to the team at spoken word essay and the support that they give to both emerging and experienced poets. I asked Tracey what the community of spoken word poets here in Adelaide means to her.
Tracey O'Callaghan 17:05
The spoken word community here in Adelaide is like a second home for me. Now I just have been so lucky meeting so many diverse, different, amazing people who have taken the time to have a conversation with me and support me and encourage me. And I have friends from this I definitely know now that I have finally found my tribe.
Kate Cooper 17:35
That's really inspiring and really encouraging, and it is a fantastic community and very vibrant. And there are so many events in and around Adelaide and in South Australia for people to go to.
Tracey O'Callaghan 17:49
There is, it has grown so much from 2018 and we want the young people, want the older people. Want everybody coming out and and having a voice in a safe space.
Kate Cooper 18:00
Returning to the theme of performance, I asked Tracey how her experiences of performing her poetry have influenced the way she creates her work.
Tracey O'Callaghan 18:10
I sort of keep that one simple. Some of my poems are very relatable to people, and it's just about what's happened in life and memories and and I like to push the buttons sometimes, but they come up. People come up to me, and they speak to me after a performance, and I may be inspired to write another poem on the topic. Is subject of the poem, due to the feedback I get back, so I just sort of, I write and I perform. I don't do think too much about it.
Kate Cooper 18:42
And just getting the feedback must be a really good feeling, a really good experience, to have that interaction with people responding to your work.
Tracey O'Callaghan 18:51
It certainly is, because it ranges from young people around 14 thanking me for doing a poem about standing up for young boys and men to people in their 80s or 90s that again, men, older men, saying, Thank you for being a voice for us. Men, they're very profoundly... they affect me, and I get constructive criticism. It's always constructive. You know, some people don't like one of my poems. That's okay, also, because that's what it's about. You don't have to like everybody's poem, but I aim to inspire people to pick up a pen and write and get the stuff out of their heart and head or help them.
Kate Cooper 19:32
We also talked about where and how Tracey creates her works...
Tracey O'Callaghan 19:39
I am, I write anywhere I have taken over the whole house, as I told the house that I am a creative arts person. Every space is literally mine to have books, pens and fluoro markers at I'm a bit naughty like that, but I do look I write in the bed I get I quite like getting back into. There with a cough in the laptop. I sometimes have to pull the car over and write, or I record verbal runs. I call a verbal run, where I'm just driving along an iron gear in my head, and I record it so I don't lose it, because it could be the possibility of a great poem.
And a lot of those times they they have been possibilities. I create the first draft, and then due to I have that experience and background of doing spoken word performance poetry, I say it out loud so I can hear how it falls into the air, into the space. And if something doesn't sound right, I'm going, Oh, that's pretty crap. So I'll circle that. And then there's times I'll do the first draft and it will break me. So I know I'm on a bit of a winner. I'm pretty brutal with my critiquing. I make changes at the second draft, date and time. Sometimes when I'm critiquing, I can have six different times on that same day, I keep all my draft so I can look back at the process.
I am a bit of a perfectionist. I have, as I said, taken over the house. I have a beautiful timber riding desk that I never sit at and write. It's filled with my riding gear. So I've taken over the end of the kitchen table as well. So that's how I do it. I just make sure he called everything verbally in document brilliant.
Kate Cooper 21:24
I like that idea of the house essentially being an extended writing room. Yes, everywhere. Do you like writing outdoors as well? You mentioned about in your car that you include beautiful, everyday observations in your poem. So do you sometimes just sit outside and then it all comes to you?
Tracey O'Callaghan 21:46
Yes, I do sometimes. So I will actually write and not do other stuff in the house, the boring stuff, like housework. I will go down to the beach and sit on the beach, or even sit in the car if it's really windy weather, because I love that, and the waves are really rough, and I'll sit in right there, or I'll go and sit under trees. I love the tree area in botanical gardens near the zoo. I lay under the trees, so I get inspired by that. I like to be right next to nature.
Kate Cooper 22:16
On this program, we often speak with writers about where they grew up and what the place means to them. Now, Tracey spoke with us about Devonport in Tasmania, where she is originally from.
Tracey O'Callaghan 22:29
So Devonport is located in northwest of Tasmania, so it's where the ABLE Tasman comes in from Victoria, from Melbourne, so that docks in at East Devonport. So it's, look, a lot of people are coming over to Tassie now it's, it's a small place, but the North West is the best. And that was part of one of the songs we used to sing when we go down and play against Hobart softball in in carnivals. So it look, it was a place that the air is just nicer over there, less less, fog and everything the beach was 10 minutes from the beach, just from bullshit was just amazing. It's just so many memories of growing up in nature and and going back and catching up with friends and family. I go back say, every year, every year and a half.
Kate Cooper 23:18
Following on from this, I invited Tracy to perform one more poem for us, which we followed with a conversation about the subject matter.
Tracey O'Callaghan 23:27
Well, I say, how about we do the one that I wrote after doing a Sea Shepherd Beach clean-up, pick-=up. It goes like this...
She speaks to us from deep down in her depths, delivering her gifts on a wave tips they come from near and far. There's plastic strokes and plastic forks left by inconsiderate dorks, plastic bags and plastic plates left by you and your mates. You bring all your rubbish to her shores. Have parties, watch your children play and explore the needle you wrap and line around and break the law. There's plastic spoons and bottle caps. No time to pick up your crap, but plenty of time to flick through your apps. You post on social media how much you love this place, pucker up, make a duck face and leave all your shit half embedded in the sand. Try using those things at the end of your wrist. They're called hands.
There's beer bottles, Coke cans, shards of broken glass, cigarette butts left by disrespectful nuts and plastic knives that still cut. There's broken thongs about their mates, broken plastic crates and still McDonald's signature straws. You know, she teaches us lessons each time we meet, purge and a banquet of gifts at our feet. There's sea life strangled in fishing line. Don't you think it's time we showed some respect for this, our sacred land, that we continue to neglect?
Kate Cooper 25:13
Tracey, that's a timely reminder, because I'm always shocked when I'm out for a walk and I see rubbish everywhere. I just I still can't believe it after all these years, what's the story behind that poem? From your experience?
Tracey O'Callaghan 25:29
Okay, so I wrote that poem because my daughter kept on nicking off overseas, and she was a Sea Shepherd supporter, and used to help them out all the time. So she would ask me to buy clothes, anything, and she had quite a cupboard full of them. So while she was overseas, they had a Sea Shepherd cleanup down at Glenelg. So I went through a whole wardrobe and dressed myself in all her clothes, sent a photo through and said, I'm going down on behalf of you. I did it as a bit of a stir, actually, but I was extremely shocked and disgusted as a human to see what we cleaned up. And to be honest, one of the biggest shocks was McDonalds to stop there, the yellow straws, their red stripe, and still they are coming up on the beach. So it's... I went home and I wrote, she speaks on behalf of the sea, speaking to us.
Kate Cooper 26:25
And I hope people are listening, because certainly those cleanup days, those cleanup exercises, are so important to keep our natural areas beautiful.
Tracey O'Callaghan 26:37
It definitely is, and it does not take much to leave the place the way you found it.
Kate Cooper 26:42
Precisely. Our guest on Emerging Writers today was Tracey O'Callaghan - writer, poet, storyteller, word weaver and spoken word performer. As we mentioned at the start of the program, Tracey's solo Fringe show Brains, Balls and Banter will be held on Friday the 28th of February, six o'clock at the Jade - bookings through the Fringe website.
The Emerging Writers program is produced in our Adelaide studios, and can be heard at the same time each week here on Vision Australia radio, VA radio, on digital, online at varadio.org, and also on Vision Australia Radio podcasts, where you can catch up on earlier episodes.
ID 27:39
Thanks for listening to this Vision Australia radio podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform. Visit varadio.org for more. Vision Australia Radio - blindness, low vision, opportunity.
