Mother Tongue Poetry

Mother Tongue is an organisation passionate about supporting the voices of women, and gender diverse people who identify as women. The organisation centres around our live events and has become Melbourne’s biggest Women’s Spoken Word event and one of the most established Spoken Word events in the city. It is hosted and run by Fleassy Malay and KAtoe Lohner. A place for Passionate, Powerful, Vulnerable and Honest performance; it stands aside from, most Spoken Word events in its depth and authenticity. The organisation has been running since the end of 2012 and has evolved from a monthly event to the NFP organisation it is today. Mother Tongue supports these marginalised voices through its own live events, online events, and youtube channel as well as aligning with other events and organisations to get more women and gender diverse voices onto their platforms. In the past, we have worked with the Melbourne Writers Festival, Seven Sisters Festival, Rainbow Serpent Festival, Melbourne Spoken Word, Australian Poetry Slam, Banyule City Council and more. We showcase all forms of the Spoken Word, including poetry, comedy, rap, song and storytelling. The key factor is that it is a platform for honest stories. Some of these stories are hard to hear, others are filled with joy and sensuality. All of these stories are welcome in our space. Mother Tongue is proud to have been a catalytic force in the emergence of many incredibly talented writers and performers.