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Jeremiah Gooseberrye

@jgooseberrye

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You shouldn’t let poets lie to you;
69 is the only dinner for 2.

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My head is shaved.
It is not a fashion statement.
It is not me asserting my feminism,
or my queerness,
or my gender-three-steps-below-dysphoria.
It is not me commanding attention
Or craving piety.
It is not even me
Taking ownership of my image
and identity --
the way I have always used my hair before.

Because There Are Two Types Of People In This World:
Those that live in the before;
Those that live in the after.

Before you suffer a loss that
unravels your entire being,
erases your confidence in your capacity to predict exactly how a situation will unfold,
transmogrifies your understanding of the world, including what you are within it.

Before you feel a pain that you know cannot,
by its nature,
ever go away.

Before you feel explosive,
DNA-altering
grief

and
After.

So to shave my head
is to be in recognition
of being in the after.
It is to be in commune with you.
It is to trim my furs
so I might more easily feel your spirit
passing over the skin of my head;
To hear you more clearly
if you have something to whisper in my ear.
I am sitting right at the point
where the rip breaks on the shore,
the opposing waves meeting and merging
in cosmic battle,
daring you to come and meet me --

To shave my head
is simply to show you
if you’re out there
that now I am in the After,
And after the first time,
There is only after
And after

And after.

And shaving my head is a mark of my
Love, and
Respect, and
Heartache, and
An awareness bound in thousands of years across cultures and languages and rituals.

To shave my head is to reduce my ego
so that I may be closer to a formless being
which is what I imagine you are now
and to savour these last moments of closeness
before we drift out of sight on divergent planes.

To shave my head is to be grounded,
by feeling the whole world more intensely.
I feel the air on my head and it
pulls me down to earth.

I am proud that I have built my ritual.
In spite of everything, and
in the loneliest loneliness,
I found my way into grief
and I made my way around
with my eyes open
And I know that will make this easier.

I am proud that I shaved my head.
I just wish I didn’t have to do it again so soon. by @jgooseberrye

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3 years ago

Returning to the Sydney Opera House this December, ft. Jeremiah Gooseberrye @jgooseberrye 🔥

Tix on sale now at the link in bio. Sign up at the door for our world-famous Entrée Slam in which you (yes, YOU) could perform at THE Opera House by random draw ✨ by @jgooseberrye

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a day ago

Yesterday (10.10.26) this collective of unhinged artists, clinicians, poets, musicians gathered in Annandale for a community day of big chats and sharing art and creating connection and it was really beautiful and thank you to everyone who came and was a part of it sincerely love you all what a wonderful thing to be a part of 🥹
We are all mad here 🤘🏽 by @jgooseberrye

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8 days ago

MAD DAY OUT is NEXT SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER at ANNANDALE NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE. There will be art, music, performances, poetry, and yarning, and even snacks generously donated by local businesses.

I will be performing a set during the poetry part of the day ~ 1.30:

10am: Festival Open

10:30am: Acknowledgement of Country followed by Open Dialogue

11:30/12: Paintings, Sculpture and Performance Art

12:30 - 1:30pm: Lunch period

1:30pm: Poetry performances + Open Mic

3:30pm: Musical performances

4.30pm: Festival End

Get your free tix at https://events.humanitix.com/mad-day-out (link in bio)

COME TO MAD DAY OUT by @jgooseberrye

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15 days ago

It's starting to feel a lot like Grief and Love!

@jgooseberrye and I have been preparing the grief embassy for G+L: Ch 2. Can't wait to see everyone* there.

*Everyone with a ticket. And yes, they are all sold out. by @jgooseberrye

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17 days ago

Talk about grief + love — we have some bittersweet news. Our feature poet Alisha Brown @alishalouisebrown is sadly down with the sickness and will be unable to join us tonight. Please send her all your healing energy!

We are however incredibly fortunate to announce poet Sarah Wheeler who will step up this evening to feature.

Sarah is a multi-disciplinary artist (writer, performer, and erasure poet) born and raised in the American South. A daughter of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sarah’s work is heavily inspired by the natural world and draws upon the traditions of Appalachian storytelling/folklore. Sarah’s poetry navigates the many landscapes of grief and attempts to challenge systems of oppression (particularly those rooted in patriarchy and religious fundamentalism) by redefining what is sacred.

Sarah has been published in Rattle Magazine and has previously featured for The Los Angeles Poetry Society, Los Angeles Women’s Center for Creative Work, Beatnik Cafe, and Bread and Butter Poetry Slam (among others). Sarah’s team ‘Foreword’ placed second in Bankstown Poetry Slam’s 2026 Grand Slam.

Sarah’s golden erasure poetry exhibit ‘FOUND’ is currently on display at We Three Bar in Marrickville thru October 18. Her erasures can also be viewed online @littlegoldenblackoutpoems. by @jgooseberrye

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17 days ago

Returning to the iconic Sydney Opera House this December: BREAD & BUTTER POETRY SLAMPIONSHIP 2026.

Now in its 4th year, our Slampionship is a celebration of the people and poets who make B&B the wonderful community that it is. In true slam fashion, feature poets from every slam of 2026 will return to battle it out for prizes, glory, and the title of 2026 Poetry Slampion!

Announcing our 2026 returning feature poets:
- Jeremiah Gooseberrye @jgooseberrye
- Vinod Rahl @vinralh
- Sarah Wheeler @sarahwheelerpoet
- Ophelia Hatzimanolis @faye181
- Tess O'Sullvian @tess.osullivan
- Rhonda Cowell @after.thecredits
- Maria Parumog @parumogmaria
- Simran Kaur @the_obscuregirl
... with more TBC!

Tix on sale NOW at the link in bio. Get in quick to snap up a discounted Early Bird ticket - they're going fast! 🍞 taken in Sydney Opera House by @jgooseberrye

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22 days ago

Our final feature announcement for Grief + Love Ch II is Liz Bradshaw, an artist and curator whose work unravels time, materiality and metaphor. Her practice is informed by cultural histories—of art and politics, of industrialisation and archives, of sexuality and gender—and their complex and constitutive intersections with forms of violence.

Since 2020, she has curated major exhibitions at the National Art School for Mardi Gras season; served as the lead curator for Qtopia Sydney, the world's largest queer museum (2024), and developed three solo exhibitions of her sculpture and drawing work. In February this year she performed as part of Death by Powerpoint during Sydney Festival. Writing and music are constant counterpoints to her visual arts practice.

She lives and works in Sydney: Gadigal Country. by @jgooseberrye

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24 days ago

Grief + Love Ch II is on next Friday 2 October 2026!

And we would love to see and hear you there. This is a space where you can bring your open heart, whether it is pumping hard or haemorrhaging, and share the words that you have been drawn to in your grief and love. Hell, you can even read someone else’s words if that is what will help you process. If you would like to take part in the open mic, you can send Tom or Jeremiah a DM to pre-register. Otherwise, you can always sign up on the night. Get your tickets through humanitix via the link in bio! by @jgooseberrye

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25 days ago

Announcing Alisha Brown as feature poet for Grief + Love, Chapter II!

Alisha is a poet living on unceded Gadigal Country. Her debut manuscript, A Bird is a Small God, was shortlisted for the 2026 Dorothy Hewett Award. She won the 2025 Finding Beauty Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the 2026 Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize. Her poetry has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. You can find her work in Best of Australian Poems, Westerly, Griffith Review, Island, Cordite, and Meanjin, among others.

We are incredibly blessed to have Alisha as our opening feature poet for Grief + Love on Friday 2 October, at Westward Cottage. Tickets available at https://events.humanitix.com/grief-love-2 (link in bio) by @jgooseberrye

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a month ago

I fell asleep editing this because I am doing so many thing. (This is as much for my own mental recollection as yours)

1. CEMENTA
a) Ekphrastic writing workshop with @uplifted_hanna, Friday 18 September, 1-3pm, Cementa HQ (Wayout)
b) un/Anti-(SLAM), Saturday 19 September, 2-4pm, @theglobehotelrylstone, feat @troyghw
c) Poets’ Breakfast, Sunday 20 September, 10-12.30, @theglobehotelrylstone feat Terry Yates
c.1) POETRY POP UPS featuring @uplifted_hanna, @jplummerpoetry, @the_harpoet, @monicaleepoet, @eilajamesonavey and others
d) FOLLOW @unantislam

2. GRIEF + LOVE w @tom_isaacs_art , Friday 2 October, 6.30-8.30pm, Westward Cottage. Open mic and feature poets @alishalouisebrown, @riaa_adele and @liz_bradshaw_artist

3. MAD DAY OUT, Saturday 10 October, 10-3, Annandale Community Centre featuring so many cool artists I simply cannot type anymore ok love you bye by @jgooseberrye

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a month ago

I'm so pleased to share with you our first feature announcement for Grief + Love, Chapter II — Ria Adele.

Ria is a queer Tanzanian poet, DJ and therapist, living on Gadigal/Wangal land. With a strong belief in the power of giving voice to our stories, Ria weaves together insightful and self-reflective verses, capturing themes of grief, mental illness, relationships and healing. Ria artfully combines rhythm and rhyme and her soothing vocal tone, creating a unique poetic style that invites her audience to feel, think and connect as deeply as she does.

Accompanied by instrumental tracks, Ria’s captivating performances immerse her audience in the tension and beauty of her poetry. Ria’s albums ‘What if the flame’ (2024) and ‘Natural Disaster’ (2026) are available on Soundcloud.

We hope you can join us in witnessing an incredibly special set from Ria on 2 October at Westward Cottage. by @jgooseberrye

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a month ago