Yarra Valley Spoken Word Friday 14th August 2026: Christopher James

Yarra Valley Spoken Word Friday 14th August 2026: Christopher James

The feature poet for August, many of us know as the larrikin of the valley, who started Yarra Valley Spoken Word with Andy Travis 4 years ago on the day. 

He’s a circus Performer (and thus juggler) of being father of 4 children, married for 17 years and builder of this dome which is run as a youth circus by The Funky Monkey Family.

After studying acting at Wollongong University Chris traveled overseas to over 23 countries performing a play he wrote before achieving a masters of teaching in secondary Drama and English at University of Melbourne. 

He then went off to start a business called The Dreaming Space and Melbourne Stretch Marquees which he still runs today with his wife Claire providing exceptional entertainment to live shows and events. 

He is a songwriter, scriptwriter and poet whose passion is the transformation of the soul through theatrical writing and literary education. 

Chris feels happiest when we are all together and co-creating as a community, and so he invites everyone to be an interactive crowd, laugh out loud, be wild, boo if you feel compelled! 

Strap in and welcome our very own Christopher James, as the next 30 mins is going to be an exhilarating ride…

Welcome to our Yarra Valley Spoken Word Community.

The original custodians of the Yarra Valley were the Wurundjeri people. Their wisdom travelled through time in songs, art, stories, mentorship and dance. We acknowledge this land’s indigenous ancestors and elders, oral historians of the dream-time. This poetry gathering sits on the shoulders of countless generations of wisdom keepers and spoken word story tellers.

We meet at The Dreaming Space Dome at Yarra Valley ECOSS, Wesburn on the second Friday of the month and welcome you to join us and share your musings.

Ours is a space to share the power of the spoken word, be inspired by our community of artists and learn to write and share life’s depths through this life changing art form.

Families are welcome until after supper, we have a feature artist each month and then Open Mic.

Spoken Word is an inclusive project.
Entry and Supper is by donation, we never turn people away!
Suggested Donation:
$15 Full / $10 Concession
$5 Supper, $5 Chai

Program
6pm – Doors open/Music/chat/settle
6.30 – Poetry workshop & open mic
7.00 – Supper
7.30 – Feature poet (12yrs+)
8.00 – Open mic
9.00 – Chai & Chat

We request punctuality, and silent, respectful listening during performances.

For more information call Andy: 0415 734 744 or Chris: 0414 306 772
or search Yarra Valley Spoken Word on Facebook