Freedom for Poetry to Prosper

I want to begin with a story.

In 2020, in the middle of uncertainty, I took a leap of faith. In the small New England town of Guyra, I opened the Australian Poetry Hall of Fame inside the historic Arcadia Theatre, built back in 1929.

Now, some people might have said I was crazy—opening a cultural enterprise in a rural town, during a pandemic, with little more than a vision and determination. But I believed in the idea of giving poetry, art, and culture a permanent home.

And here’s what happened: we grew.

That’s not just poetry. That’s prosperity.

And it was only possible because of freedom—the freedom to create, to take risks, to build something new.

Thank you Australia