Overview

Poetry on the walls. Needles in the gutters. Preachers on the corners. Protesters on the roads. People begging on the streets. This is 21st century Melbourne. Johnny Lock - young and fragile, purposeless and paranoid - meets Jay Khan, a wanderer who writes letters to strangers while trapped in Melbourne during the pandemic. Thus begins Johnny's metamorphosis. He brands himself a 'street poet' and begins roaming the city in search of stories, finding inspiration in the strangers and places Jay teaches him to notice. Johnny's world grows larger as he learns to heed the forgotten stories, entangling his own in the tales of the streets. Over a tumultuous eighteen-month period, he confronts his own delusions, exposes universally existential truths, and unveils the secrets of the city. The result is a dystopian rendering of modern Australian life from the eyes of a paranoid poet: the author's literary alter ego. This collection archives the transcriptions of Johnny's wanderings as a street poet. His recorded observations and encounters are preserved in typewritten diary entries, street-inspired poetry and various other media forms. From drunken train rides and anti-vax protests to eavesdropped conversations and interactions with strangers, this is Johnny's Melbourne: a city flashing between hot and cold, welcoming and discordant. Romanticism and disillusionment are seamlessly braided into a raw, honest story about a young man navigating a turbulent world.

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9780645702705

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Reviews

"""The Street Poet thrusts us into the hypnotic synocpoation of the city and grapples with the ebb and flow, the unpredictability and impermanence of the streets, its art and life. And ultimately it asks, how do we cope with the fear of the unknown? Attard gives us an answer: we wait, we watch, we listen."" - Amelia Joy, author, 'All Summer Long' ""The Street Poet is needed in not only the poetry world but the literary one ... Filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly of everyday life, we experience the stories of strangers in the city, but also the personal odyssey of a writer struggling with the ups and downs of life, while blossoming into someone extraordinary."" - Emma Woodhead, Notes from the Library Podcast ""I worked in Melbourne's CBD for a decade ... and the way Jaidyn has managed to capture it all in this book is exactly as I remember it. You may not be an anxious, paranoid poet, but maybe that's why Johnny/Jaidyn sees things so much more clearly than others who've written about this city. Melbourne is beautiful and shiny on the outside, but when you dig down, it's gritty, defiant, industrious and resilient, and that's because of the people who are hidden away behind the shiny facade."" - Jess Carey, author, 'Melbourne: 363 Days in Lockdown' ""Vivid, brave and propulsive ... Jaidyn Luke Attard is 'The Street Poet.' In his debut solo collection, he writes directly to our humanity without losing sight of the current moment. His poems circle fragmented lives within the city of Melbourne, while also finding the value of joy in fractured spirits, including his own."" - Fotoula Reynolds, author, 'Kair�s' & 'Silhouettes' ""The first thing you'll notice when opening this book is just how eclectic and aesthetically pleasing it is ... It's unashamedly strange and experimental, and it heralds the arrival of a writer that has found his voice ... Everything is fact/everything is fiction/everything is frantic. It's a real rush to read ... Unabashedly punk and underground, full of heart and humour, Jaidyn's first full-length solo feature is an epic entrance into literature."" - Beau Windon, 'Dear Lover' (Samuel Johnson) & Mascara Literary Review's 'Resilience' anthology ""Through his alter ego Johnny, Jaidyn Luke Attard takes us on the wildest of rides through locked-down Melbourne. Gritty, honest and not for the faint of heart, The Street Poet is writing at its most immediate. Having followed Jaidyn and his band of literary brethren on social media as they took poetry directly to their city, I lapped up his chronicle of this 'unprecedented' period."" - Benjamin Dodds, author, 'Airplane Baby Banana Blanket' ""Both blood nose and love story; a staggeringly tactile recitation of the disconnect brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, as told by someone only just learning to breathe. This is part zine, wrapped around chapbook, wrapped around live grenade; it is beauty, it is time capsule, it is exorcism."" - Ian William L, poet ""A piece of art! Fleeting snapshots of a young man discovering his place as a poet, as an observer of the streets. A journey of a reclusive writer finding courage, finding a new lens in the lives of strange and gritty characters throughout the city."" - Matt Desmond, author 'Blooming in Graves'"

"""The Street Poet thrusts us into the hypnotic synocpoation of the city and grapples with the ebb and flow, the unpredictability and impermanence of the streets, its art and life. And ultimately it asks, how do we cope with the fear of the unknown? Attard gives us an answer: we wait, we watch, we listen."" - Amelia Joy, author, 'All Summer Long' ""The Street Poet is needed in not only the poetry world but the literary one ... Filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly of everyday life, we experience the stories of strangers in the city, but also the personal odyssey of a writer struggling with the ups and downs of life, while blossoming into someone extraordinary."" - Emma Woodhead, Notes from the Library Podcast ""I worked in Melbourne's CBD for a decade ... and the way Jaidyn has managed to capture it all in this book is exactly as I remember it. You may not be an anxious, paranoid poet, but maybe that's why Johnny/Jaidyn sees things so much more clearly than others who've written about this city. Melbourne is beautiful and shiny on the outside, but when you dig down, it's gritty, defiant, industrious and resilient, and that's because of the people who are hidden away behind the shiny facade."" - Jess Carey, author, 'Melbourne: 363 Days in Lockdown' ""Vivid, brave and propulsive ... Jaidyn Luke Attard is 'The Street Poet.' In his debut solo collection, he writes directly to our humanity without losing sight of the current moment. His poems circle fragmented lives within the city of Melbourne, while also finding the value of joy in fractured spirits, including his own."" - Fotoula Reynolds, author, 'Kairós' & 'Silhouettes' 'The first thing you'll notice when opening this book is just how eclectic and aesthetically pleasing it is ... It's unashamedly strange and experimental, and it heralds the arrival of a writer that has found his voice ... Everything is fact/everything is fiction/everything is frantic. It's a real rush to read ... Unabashedly punk and underground, full of heart and humour, Jaidyn's first full-length solo feature is an epic entrance into literature.' - Beau Windon, 'Dear Lover' (Samuel Johnson) & Mascara Literary Review's 'Resilience' anthology ""Through his alter ego Johnny, Jaidyn Luke Attard takes us on the wildest of rides through locked-down Melbourne. Gritty, honest and not for the faint of heart, The Street Poet is writing at its most immediate. Having followed Jaidyn and his band of literary brethren on social media as they took poetry directly to their city, I lapped up his chronicle of this 'unprecedented' period."" - Benjamin Dodds, author, 'Airplane Baby Banana Blanket' ""Both blood nose and love story; a staggeringly tactile recitation of the disconnect brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, as told by someone only just learning to breathe. This is art zine, wrapped around chapbook, wrapped around live grenade; it is beauty, it is time capsule, it is exorcism."" - Ian William L, poet ""A piece of art! Fleeting snapshots of a young man discovering his place as a poet, as an observer of the streets. A journey of a reclusive writer finding courage, finding a new lens in the lives of strange and gritty characters throughout the city."" - Matt Desmond, author 'Blooming in Graves'"

"""The Street Poet thrusts us into the hypnotic synocpoation of the city and grapples with the ebb and flow, the unpredictability and impermanence of the streets, its art and life. And ultimately it asks, how do we cope with the fear of the unknown? Attard gives us an answer: we wait, we watch, we listen."" - Amelia Joy, author, 'All Summer Long' ""The Street Poet is needed in not only the poetry world but the literary one ... Filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly of everyday life, we experience the stories of strangers in the city, but also the personal odyssey of a writer struggling with the ups and downs of life, while blossoming into someone extraordinary."" - Emma Woodhead, Notes from the Library Podcast ""I worked in Melbourne's CBD for a decade ... and the way Jaidyn has managed to capture it all in this book is exactly as I remember it. You may not be an anxious, paranoid poet, but maybe that's why Johnny/Jaidyn sees things so much more clearly than others who've written about this city. Melbourne is beautiful and shiny on the outside, but when you dig down, it's gritty, defiant, industrious and resilient, and that's because of the people who are hidden away behind the shiny facade."" - Jess Carey, author, 'Melbourne: 363 Days in Lockdown' ""Vivid, brave and propulsive ... Jaidyn Luke Attard is 'The Street Poet.' In his debut solo collection, he writes directly to our humanity without losing sight of the current moment. His poems circle fragmented lives within the city of Melbourne, while also finding the value of joy in fractured spirits, including his own."" - Fotoula Reynolds, author, 'Kairós' & 'Silhouettes' ""The first thing you'll notice when opening this book is just how eclectic and aesthetically pleasing it is ... It's unashamedly strange and experimental, and it heralds the arrival of a writer that has found his voice ... Everything is fact/everything is fiction/everything is frantic. It's a real rush to read ... Unabashedly punk and underground, full of heart and humour, Jaidyn's first full-length solo feature is an epic entrance into literature."" - Beau Windon, 'Dear Lover' (Samuel Johnson) & Mascara Literary Review's 'Resilience' anthology ""Through his alter ego Johnny, Jaidyn Luke Attard takes us on the wildest of rides through locked-down Melbourne. Gritty, honest and not for the faint of heart, The Street Poet is writing at its most immediate. Having followed Jaidyn and his band of literary brethren on social media as they took poetry directly to their city, I lapped up his chronicle of this 'unprecedented' period."" - Benjamin Dodds, author, 'Airplane Baby Banana Blanket' ""Both blood nose and love story; a staggeringly tactile recitation of the disconnect brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, as told by someone only just learning to breathe. This is part zine, wrapped around chapbook, wrapped around live grenade; it is beauty, it is time capsule, it is exorcism."" - Ian William L, poet ""A piece of art! Fleeting snapshots of a young man discovering his place as a poet, as an observer of the streets. A journey of a reclusive writer finding courage, finding a new lens in the lives of strange and gritty characters throughout the city."" - Matt Desmond, author 'Blooming in Graves'"

Author Information

Jaidyn Luke Attard 'The Street Poet' writes poetry and fiction inspired by his life as a street wanderer and observer in Melbourne/Naarm. He explores trauma and paranoia with a raw edge, often deliberately breaking literary conventions. His punkish paste-up poetry can be found on various laneway walls in the city. In 2021 he co-wrote 'There's a Tale to This City', dropping out of his Master's degree in publishing to dedicate more time to writing. He went on to found the underground collaborative writer's collective, the Degraves Circle, as well as his own independent publishing press, Back Shed Press. @jaidynpoetry

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