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‘Sonically brilliant, tender, and gutsy, Sarah’s poems are born of razor-sharp social awareness.’ – Esther Ottaway, poet

TIGHT BINDINGS: Debut poetry collection 2024

With unflinching honesty and lyrical precision, Tight Bindings grapples with embodied experiences and moments of transition. Birth, death, sex, illness, desire, and motherhood are all brought into conversation with the stories we tell and the secrets we keep. The poems trace a journey of self-discovery through confession, transformation, and a suite of reclaimed fairy tales. This debut collection sings us into story, into a place of inseparable darkness and light. It is for anyone who has yearned to break free.

I’m touring in 2024!

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“An assured debut”: Read the review of Tight Bindings at Compulsive Reader

The poems and their delivery both on the page, and on video, are quietly ferocious, delivered with warmth and gentleness that immediately draws the reader in, but underscored with a power that harkens to the title – of all the intensity held within the bindings. – Magdalena Ball

https://compulsivereader.com/2024/08/24/a-review-of-tight-bindings-by-sarah-temporal/

Book Tour 2024

Catch me in-person at any of the events below! (more dates to come)

  • August 9-11 Byron Writers Festival
  • August 15 Book Launch! Murwillumbah at Poets Out Loud
  • August 16-18 ​Mudgee Writers Festival
  • August 28​ Ruckus Slam, Brisbane
  • Sept 7​​ Performance with Penny productions, Port Erin, Isle of Man UK
  • Oct 9 Lismore Live Poets
  • Oct 18-21 ​Headland Writers Festival, Tathra
  • Nov 12​ Sappho poets, Glebe, Sydney
  • Nov 13 WestSide Slam, Parramatta
  • Nov 14​ Poetica, Sydney

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Performance

Sarah Temporal’s tender, fierce and playful poetry performances never fail to move and delight audiences from all walks of life. Sarah has performed as a feature poets at Sydney Writers Festival, National Folk Festival, Kyogle Writers Festival, and in the famous Speigeltent.
Sarah is the winner of the Bunker Spoken-Word Slam 2021, Nimbin World Cup 2018, and was twice shortlisted for the XYZ Prize for Innovation in Spoken-Word. She collaborates with circus artist Britt Portelli to explore birth and motherhood in ‘The Birth Suite’.

‘Three Secrets’ from The Birth Suite: a poetry + circus collaboration between Sarah Temporal and Britt Portelli.
Sarah Temporal reading ‘Unbroken’ from Tight Bindings (content warning)

Youth and Schools

Sarah Temporal has worked with hundreds of young people to empower their voices through the spoken and written word. She directs the Poets Out Loud Youth Slam, held in partnership with Byron Writers Festival, which showcases young writers aged 12-18 years in the Northern Rivers. She acts as a mentor for young writers, and facilitates a masterclass with the Storyboard program.

Sarah has worked with over 30 local schools, youth services, and festivals to deliver high-quality educational experiences in creative writing and poetry. Workshops are available for Years 5-10, as well as teacher PD and Poet-In-Residence programs.

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