Loose Lips: Loose Leaf Literature @ The Chippo

Loose Lips is a night to celebrate and showcase local poets, musicians, comedians and live artists.

Since 2012, Loose Leaf Literature has been supporting Sydney’s creative communities by providing safe and welcoming spaces for artists at all stages of their career, with a special emphasis on encouraging first-timers to take the stage. Returning from COVID Lockdowns in 2023, Loose Leaf Literature hosts monthly multi-medium shows at their new home at The Chippo Hotel in Chippendale. Loose Leaf Literature is entirely volunteer run and operated, with all proceeds going directly to the performers.

With the Sydney Writers Festival coming to a close, Loose Leaf Literature and Poetry Sydney are teaming up to present Loose Lips Open Mic, providing independent and underrepresented poets and writers a chance to let their words loose behind the mic. Registrations are strictly at the event and performers are encouraged to arrive early to confirm participation. All entries include a chance to win the Live Art Raffle at the end of the night.

Feature performers:

• The Fallen Gentry is built around the songs of Scott Gibson and constructed of whatever fools, addicts, vagabonds and vaudevillians he can co-opt at any given time. It has known many manifestations and manifested in many the more shadowy realms of the Australian music scene. This album “Beliefs We Held” came from Steve Kilbey’s (The Church) initial rejection of the songs then his growing engagement as he and Scott toured small venues in wayward country towns. Eventually Steve brought in former members of The Models - Barton Price (Drums) and Roger Mason (Cello/Keys). 3 shambolic days were spent in Damien Gerrard studios with Scott stealing away the tapes to his backwoods isolation and producing and mixing the album you now hear.

• Laura Hughes is comedian and actor who has spent the last decade honing her craft in LA. You’ve seen her in At Home Alone Together (ABC), Open Slather (Foxtel), Legally Brown (SBS), The Detour (TBS) and on the World Wide Web (Online). “Laura Hughes is like if your fun best friend was professionally funny” says Ronny Chieng.

• Arden Sylvester is a queer marshmallow living on Wangal country. They are a multi-disciplinary hobby artist, which is a fancy way of saying they flow creatively with whatever is available, whenever they can (but not as often as they’d like). Join them as they play with bright colours, whimsical fantasy, and perhaps an element of the macabre for balance, exploring the magic in the mundane. Follow them for more art.

Poetry Sydney acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation,  the traditional owners of the land where we live, create, meet and work.