Jaidyn Luke Attard: How A Book Was Made | The Street Poet Documentary
Jaidyn Luke Attard is a punk poet and the author of the autofictional poetry book, The Street Poet (2023), as well as one of the co-authors of There’s A Tale to This City (2021). He writes and roams on Wurundjeri land as a street wanderer, documenting what he sees as poetry. He will be reading his poems at the Rude Poets! poetry night at Cafe Gummo. When asked Jaidyn says……
I am the author of two novels: The Street Poet (2023) & There’s a Tale to This City (2021), and my third novel [REDACTED] will be out next year. After completing my studies in writing and publishing at RMIT, my creative direction shifted. I went from writing literary fiction to gambling with ‘street poetry’ and writing punk-style observational prose about the city I roam in.
My typewritten poetry is glued to the many alleyway walls of Melbourne. I believe street poetry is a method of communicating with people in a direct and creative way. Turning to the streets for inspiration has allowed me to overcome many of my personal challenges and connect with the community in constructive and expressive ways – not to mention the political protest aspect of street art. Galvanised by the rough neighbourhood I grew up in, and the subsequent mental health issues I suffer as a result, I initiated the Melbourne Street Poetry Project in 2021. The initial goal of this project was to document life in Melbourne as it is – or at least, as I have seen it – in all of its unfiltered reality: the good, the bad and the ugly. It was through this project that I met Jay Ventress, who I co-wrote my first novel with, and who I am co-writing my third novel with as well.
I also established Back Shed Press, a publishing house that teaches other punk writers how to self-publish, as I have done. As we enter a new era of creativity in a world hostile to artists, it is my intention to help authors fend themselves off from gatekeepers by showing them how to unlock the doors for themselves. I hope my works inspire blooming writers to collaborate with other creatives and rebel against anyone who tells them that writing is a useless or impossible dream. The secret is this: just go for it. Make mistakes, learn from them, make new ones – but don’t let fear get in your way of publishing your writing.
Rochford Street Review 