A Pandemic Poetry Project
by Ballarat-based creative Megan J Riedl.
Commissioned by CresFest and supported by Festivals Australia.
community catharsis through poetry
I Know What Creswick Did Last Lockdown is a participatory Pandemic Poetry project by Ballarat-based creative Megan J Riedl. Created especially for CresFest 2022, this project invites people who have experienced lockdowns due to COVID 19 in Creswick, Victoria to share their experiences – positive, negative and neutral – by way of an anonymous confession.
Mirroring Megan’s practice of personal therapy via poetry, this is creative writing as community therapy, where participants are offered a reflection and validation of their experiences over the past eighteen months of lockdown/s.
poems from your confessions
Megan will collate the confessions submitted via this website, then analyse and edit them, crafting them into a final spoken word poetry piece.
The final poem will explore commonalities in how Creswick coped during lockdown compared to other locals, and discover what really matters to Creswick in a global pandemic.
Megan will present the final poem, along with other original work and a guided tour of the original Last Lockdown project’s interactive digital poem, live on stage during the Festival.
What do you need to get off your chest about Lock down?
Your confession might be a secret happening during lockdown. It could be an epiphany you had in the shower, or a revelation you had while chatting to a friend. It could be a major life change you made, or a simple observation of the mundane but beautiful. Use one or more of these prompts to help you get started:
What did you do in lockdown that you’ve never done before? Or that you’ll never do again?
What was your most profound realisation about your life?
Where did you find strength?
How did your relationships change in unexpected ways?
What did you notice about your surroundings that brought you joy?
What did you miss the most?
What was something that couldn’t you stand?
how to join the project
Type your confession in the box below, and click submit. By submitting to the site you agree that your submission you agree to the following conditions.
While your submission may touch on difficult times or adult themes, please refrain from including anything that constitutes bigotry, misogyny, racism, homophobia, graphic sex or violence or otherwise disturbing content in your submission. A real person has to read these.
Your submission will be anonymous unless you choose to include identifying features. Any identifying features will be removed before use in the final poetry piece.
Your submission may be edited for grammar, punctuation or clarity. It may be rearranged, or used only in part. Megan J Riedl reserves the right to not use your submission if it is deemed inappropriate.
By submitting, you agree that your writing may be used in a final poetry performance by Megan J Riedl on 2nd April 2022 at CresFest. Text or sound or video recording of the poem may be published online by CresFest or Megan J Riedl.
The final poetry piece is the creative work of Megan J Riedl and copyright will remain with her.
Find out more
need help?
Contact Megan for assistance or any questions about the project.