The other night I managed to drag my very unwilling husband to a feminist reading night hosted by Lip, titled ‘My first time’ (to be honest I may have not mentioned any of this my husband and just mumbled ‘it’s a reading thing….’). I was actually a bit apprehensive about reviewing this evening. Firstly, I am a staff writer for Lip, so I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do if it sucked. Secondly, I was apprehensive simply because I’ve been to a couple of these ‘run by the young, trendy, creative crowd’ Canberra events, and couldn’t have felt more like a fish out of water.

Which is exactly how my husband and I felt upon arrival. If you haven’t been to the Front Gallery, it is a pretty hip place. And if you haven’t met my husband and I, hip is a thing we are not. The crowd definitely matched the location and all seemed to know each other pretty well. So my husband and I, feeling completely out of place, ended up sitting in a booth right at the back as far away from everyone as we could get (we are nothing if not antisocial and slightly rude), awkwardly counting down the minutes until it was time to leave. Let me tell you right now- they were loooooong minutes.

However about half an hour after our arrival the speakers were introduced, the readings began, and all thoughts of leaving exited my mind. Because it was actually really good.

The first reading was by Amelia Filmer-Sankey, who is well known in the spoken poetry scene. After hearing the talk she gave I definitely see why her work is so popular. While I did find myself scrunching up my face at the words ‘vaginal secretions’, which were thrown at the audience about half way through, it was a beautifully worded (vaginal secretions aside), poetic and moving piece that really engaged the audience.

The second speaker was Barbara Norman, the Foundation Chair of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra; who is also involved in a heap of other impressive sounding stuff. While her talk was not as poetic, it was really great to get an opportunity to hear such an accomplished woman describe how she got involved in environmental/political issues and become the kick-ass person she is today.

Lastly, there was a talk by Melanie Tait, the host and producer of ABC Radio National’s Now Hear This storytelling series and 666 ABC Canberra’s Canberraphile, who definitely stole the show. Despite the theme, no one else had touched on the theme of their first time first time (if you know what I’m sayin’. No? Okay fine, I’m talking about sex. Sorry mum and dad). So Melanie decided that she would be that person, and told (with no graphic details, to the obvious relief of my husband) the hilarious, moving, romcom-esque story of her first lover.

Besides the readings themselves, the audience were also fantastic. All were completely interested and involved in the readings, and there was a very friendly and open vibe overall.

All in all, despite the wobbly beginning, I had a blast. If my husband, who is unimpressed almost all of the time about almost all of everything, called it ‘a pretty good night’, then you know it must be awesome.

However you don’t need to take our word for it: the Lip-Readings event has been named as a shortlisted finalist in the category of ‘Best new project by/for young people in the ACT’ as part of the Express Media Awards for 2013. The winners will be announced later today!

I really hope that there will be a lot more events like this in the future- however with the large crowd that turned up (go Canberra!) I don’t think I need to worry.