A renowned Australian slam poetry couple are bringing their unique talents to a powerful spoken word show celebrating the sea.

Penny Productions has created the fascinating show ‘Otherworlds, Underworlds, Wonderworlds’  which will take place at the Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin on Saturday, September 7 at 7.30pm.

The performance is a twinning of spoken word poetry between two hemispheres, one Northern, one Southern.

The show celebrates the arrival of award-winning husband and wife Australian slam poets Sarah Temporal and Damien Becker.

Sarah is currently touring across Australia with her debut poetry collection, Tight Bindings, after which she’ll be bringing the book to Europe, visiting London, Edinburgh, Paris, Iceland and the Isle of Man.

The reason they have chosen to stop off at the island is due to a connection made in 2019 via Instagram with local triple Manx Litfest poetry slam champion, Jackie Morrey-Grace.

This led to Jackie being invited to perform her first poetry publication ‘On Ravensdale Hill’, via Zoom to Poets Out Loud, a regional arts initiative Sarah runs in the Bundjalung lands in the New South Wales Northern Rivers. The performance took place during the pandemic, with the piece piquing the couple’s interest in the island, hence its inclusion in their trip.

‘Otherworlds, Underworlds and Wonderworlds’ will feature Penny Productions’ usual blend of original spoken word experimentation and collaboration with darkly feminine poems, chants, chimes, gongs and songs by newly formed group Daughter of Sea.

The evening will also feature an experimental, fireside-style, storytelling piece, collaboratively written especially for the event by Sarah, Damien and Jackie.

A live, folk-horror adaptation of On Ravensdale Hill has been planned too - complete with masks by Ed Morrey and special guests, Owen Atkinson, Fern Callister, Soundology’s Amy Howse and jazz vocalist, Lauren Gray. All this alongside Sarah and Damien’s poetic performances.

Jackie said: ‘Penny Productions is delighted to be welcoming our poetic visitors from the other side of the planet in this way - I’ve been a huge fan of their work since we first met via Instagram in 2019.

‘Damien was crowned New South Wales Poetry Slam Champ that year, so there was an immediate connection. However, it was his exquisitely presented poems - many on the theme of being a double lung transplant, cystic fibrosis survivor, that really blew me away.

‘Not long after I discovered Damien, I was introduced to Sarah - who actually competed in Australia’s first ever national slam. I immediately fell in love with her performance work, which is often concerned with revealing our hidden selves, ranging from personal confessions to reclaimed fairy tales.

‘I also love how both Damien and Sarah’s poetry is so sensitively steeped in Australia’s rich and complex history and culture.

‘To have this brought to our little island is a true treat, plus it’s also a great opportunity for Penny Productions to team up with some friends for some spoken word fun - and lots of Soundology gong action, which we know the audience love.’

Damien added: ‘We’re thrilled to be able to bring our unique stories and poetry from our part of the world - sun, surf, rainforest, to the Isle of Man. To collaborate in this show is unlike anything we've done before and a very special opportunity.’

Signed copies of Sarah’s book will be available to purchase on the night. Tickets for the show are available from www.erinartscentre.com and cost £15.