At Home: With Subbed In
This article was published for the Critical Arts Journal : Framework in Sydney.
In a time when ePublishing often seems to be the only option for emerging writers, Sydney-based DIY literary organisation Subbed In is reinvigorating support for traditional print media. What began as a series of ‘open call’ backyard poetry readings two years ago, developed amongst close friends as a space to experiment against the stuffy confines of more rigid reading events, has now evolved into an ever-growing grassroots community of writers and publishers.
For co-founders Dan Hogan and Stacey Teague, the Subbed In community offers a space for diverse writers to engage with each other and the public, with a focus on new and underrepresented voices. Whether this is through a beer in the backyard at a reading event, contributing to a zine or chapbook, or even partaking in a comedy writing workshop, Subbed In is seeking to support the vast range of voices Sydney’s diverse creative landscape offers.
The following is a transcript of an interview by Amelia Navascues with Dan Hogan and Stacey Teague, conducted at their home. Some of the questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.
What would you say marked the beginnings of Subbed In? Was there a trigger or a moment that started the movement?
Dan: I guess the impetus was that we wanted to put on a reading series because we liked going to readings but struggled to find access to any. It ended up that we started putting on events ourselves and we organised them either in someone’s house, or backyard and just wanted to make sure it was always super informal and fun.
Stacey: A lot of poetry readings are really stuffy and boring and we kind of just wanted to make a reading that we wanted to go to. Since none existed, we had to make it ourselves. There are a lot of academic and older types of poetry out there.
D: Sydney’s truly the Martin Place of poetry.
S: And I guess Melbourne’s always seen as ‘hip and happening’ when it comes to literature. I guess for us, in Sydney, it was just more a matter of bringing all of the different groups and pockets of people who were already making things together, to create something even bigger.
There seem to be a lot of different facets to what Subbed In now does. This year, Subbed In will be publishing its first chapbook too. What was the tipping point that started changing things from it being a spoken word night to a literary organisation?
D: I remember it exactly. There was an event that changed everything. It was about a year ago at ‘The Barn’ (a place where Dan used to live, with a huge backyard).
S: We’d quite often have the readings in that backyard, and the last one was just absolutely packed. It was crammed, and there was no space. And it was strange because we were always worried previously, thinking ‘oh, no one’s going to come’. After that event, we didn’t have to worry about that any more.
D: It was that kind of a turning moment when you realise ‘there are more people here that I don’t know than do’. It’s lovely when you get chatting with people, as it’s a social event as well, and been so nice in that journey, meeting people along the way.
What do you think print media can provide that eBooks can’t, given the trends towards ePublishing at the moment?
S: I love physical books. Within literature, print media is so important. And especially for poetry, I think having a poetry book matches the medium. You can always read poetry on a computer screen, but to have it, there’s nothing else like that.
D: I think print media will always have value. I personally don’t feel like digital publishing is at odds with print as much as people sing it up to be. There’s that panic people seem to have, where they say that ‘print media is dead’ and I don’t really think that’s the case. The way I like to read poetry is in print.
What’s the idea behind home-run spaces and what thoughts do you have about running or starting up creative grassroots projects in this way?
S: Aside from the factor of having no money to back the project, I guess the fact that we both aren’t from Sydney (Dan is from the Central Coast and Stacey, New Zealand) meant we didn’t exactly know how to start.
D: Sydney has a pretty funny landscape when it comes to venues of any kind, things are always popping up and down. But when it started, ‘Subbed In’ also began fresh off the back of the lock out laws. That alongside the institutional feel of Sydney and academic spaces was something we didn’t like, so we thought ‘fuck it all, let’s just throw a house party that’s also a “read”.’ I think the party aspect drove a lot of that, and combining a house party with a reading event allowed that.
