Friendly Street Poets

Friendly Street Poets is a poetry reading group and publisher in Adelaide, South Australia.[1]

Friendly Street Poets was inaugurated as a fortnightly poetry reading on 11 November 1975,[2] organised by Andrew Taylor, Richard Tipping and Ian Reid. It soon became a monthly event and after a couple of changes of venue is still running. In 1977 a selection of the best poets from that year's readings was published as the Friendly Street Reader, and a similar volume has been produced annually since then.[3] Among its editors are published poets Judy Dally and Geoff Kemp.[4]

In the 80s Friendly Street began publishing volumes by individual poets and in 1995 the series Friendly Street: New Poets was begun. This consists of first volumes by three poets. Publication is in conjunction with Wakefield Press and Writers' Week at the Adelaide Festival. The group has prospered despite the 1988 disappearance of $13,000 of funding. Among the more well known poets to have read at the venue are John Bray, Jenny Boult, Louise Crisp, Steve Evans, Peter Goldsworthy, Jeff Guess, Rory Harris, Jeri Kroll, Mike Ladd, Kate Llewellyn, Jan Owen and Graham Rowlands.