Writing and Poetry
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Joel writes poetry, creative non-fiction and children's literature. An author with Penguin-Random House as well as Larrikin House he has multiple middle-grade novels and graphic novels being released in the next few years. Get excited!!!
His first love though, was poetry.
Joel started writing and performing poetry sixteen years ago (back when he also had long, red dreadlocks). Within a year his poetry had gained such acclaim that it became his full time profession. Within a few years he was touring the world with his work and representing Australia at the INDIVIDUAL WORLD POETRY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIPS. A prolific writer Joel has released seven different books of poetry as well as seven spoken word/music albums, a creative non-fiction called WOVEN and his first graphic novel, URBAN LEGEND HUNTERS.
2023
2024
A hilarious and spooky thriller about the urban legend of The Dreaded Mr. Snipe. It is a ghost story best told around the campfire and is sure to have you (either from fear or from laughter) squeeking out a little pffft at the most embarrassing of moments. Great for 7-12 year olds.
"Hilarious, creepy and SUPER spooky! You won't be able to put this fabulous mystery down."
– Kate and Jol Temple –
Perfect for those who like their adventure and their hilarity and their spooky all smooshed into one. If you're a kid or a teenager you are certainly not going to want to miss the crazy antics of The Urban Legend Hunters: Samantha Small, Jeremy Jubaya and Bad Boris.
STORY BEATS and
RHYME DROPS
Poetry for Young Peeps book
by Joel McKerrow
Inside this poetic collection you’re gonna find words that refuse to stay on the page. Poetry that is alive and kicking. Rhythm and rhyme that is soaring and roaring and whispering and just generally...getting in-your-face. Or maybe it’s getting in the face of your heart. If your heart had a face. Now that would be strange. Either way, it’s poetry that will make you laugh and cry and dream and soar. It’s poetry that is so addictive you’ll want to be a poet.
I am not even kidding.
Aimed at 8-14 year olds, but really for anyone.
2023
2023
2023
“In the midst of everything that exists
there is a solitary city
and in this solitary city
there is a leaning building
and in this leaning building
there is the smallest flicker
of an orange glow...”
Phosphorescent words to guide the way.
Even Lost Things Glow is a collection of Joel's poetry from the last years. It is the words that were written to bring light into the dark spaces of our lives. Glow-in-the-dark words. Phosphorescent. A glimmer of hope. Brand new poetry and some older pieces too. And it includes QR code links to 21 different spoken word/music tracks so you can listen along as you read for an immersive poetic experience.
A fully improvised,
poetic meditation album
by Joel McKerrow
(with special musical guest Chelsea McGough)
2023
Flow: An Improvised Poetic Meditation is like nothing you have heard before.
Improvised poetry.
Improvised Meditation.
Improvised Cello.
It is a bringing together of a number of different creative-experiments into one beautifully meditative and reflective album. This is the kind of music/poetry that you want to put on some headphones, get comfortable and let it wash over you and take you where it wants to. Give yourself to the flow, as Joel and Chelsea both did in their improvisation, and see what comes up within you.
Chelsea McGough is a cellist, composer, and producer based in Nashville, TN. Her compositions have been featured in films, television, social media and ad campaigns in the U.S. and abroad. You can hear some of her most recent work on the latest season of the Bridgerton podcast and the Showtime network docuseries VICE. She was a featured cello soloist in the 2018 Lionsgate feature film “I Can Only Imagine”. When she’s not creating in her studio, you can find her playing with artists such as Needtobreathe, Copeland, and Gungor, and working as a session cellist in Nashville.
The GROUND-BREAKING Album
by Joel McKerrow & the Mysterious Few
2016
Released in 2016 there is not really even a specific genre for what Joel McKerrow & the Mysterious Few created here. It could be called something like acoustic-driven, intimate, folk rock poetry; a mash up of Passenger, Sigur Ros, Daughter sitting beneath passionately delivered spoken word.
Whatever it is Joel McKerrow and the Mysterious Few are pioneering a unique meeting place of artistic forms through an explosion of poetic verse, impassioned performance, soaring vocals and intricate musicality. The songs/poems (or pongs for short) are both inspiring and moving, attention grabbing and thoughtful, articulate and powerful, in-your-face and under-your-skin. This is not just poetry with a thin musical veneer, this is music perfectly and intentionally woven in with spoken word.
Accompanying the lyricism of frontman poet Joel McKerrow is a host of musicians at the top of their game. Josh Furhrmeister (guitars, keys), Richelle Boer (vocals and guitars), Jhana Allan (Violin) and Leah Scholes (Percussion).
“...perhaps the loveliest thing you have ever heard. If you know the work of Joel McKerrow you expect lovely, you expect inspiring, you expect lump-in-your-throat beauty. But all that has been kicked up a notch.”
~ Indie-feed Performance Poetry Podcast ~
An Upside-Down World
A Poetry/Music collaboration with Grace Naoum and pianist David Andrew as part of TEARFUND AUSTRALIA.
From the stories of some of the least fortunate throughout the world this is a creative project with TEARFUND AUSTRALIA that saw Joel and Grace responding poetically to these stories of courage and hope and survival. An honouring of their bravery. A challenging of the way we perceive the world to be. A self-confrontation. This album is sure to confront anyone who listens, yet also invite them into a new way of being. Backed by the piano of David Andrew with poetry interspersed between Joel and Grace, it is a masterpiece in storytelling.
Available for streaming wherever you stream your music.
2022
The ALBUM from the EXHIBITION
HUMAN: An Exploration of the Inner Life
Through the visual arts, the zoological, the poetic and the musical HUMAN is an exploration of the drive that makes us...well...human. With a philosophical base in the identity framework of the enneagram (plus a few extras), this is your chance to explore your deeper desires, your compulsions, your hopes and your fears and how they shape your life for better and for worse.
Available for streaming wherever you stream your music.
2021
2019
Creative, Non-Fiction Memoir
A book about the Spiritual Journey
(GOODREADS- 4.4 rating).
When a white, middle-class, Christian, heterosexual, able-bodied man begins to question all of these cultural realities that he has been raised within, something is sure to give. The cultural fishbowl is sure to be cracked. Woven is such a story. The gradual awakening of a man to his gender, economic, and racial privilege. It is the story of growing up within contemporary evangelicalism, the dissatisfaction that began to arise, and the subsequent journey of self-discovery.
Woven is a story of dissatisfaction. A story of struggling and wrestling, and questioning. It is the story of self-confrontation and institutional-deconstruction and spiritual-reformation. Woven is a naming of the realities we would prefer not to name, the owning up to our own bigotry and entitlement. It is an audiobook that is sure to challenge both the conservative and the progressive, whilst also paving a way forward for all of us seeking to grow in our humanity and connectedness. Published by Acorn Press, and launched Nov 15th 2019 at The Justice Conference Australia.
"This is more than just a memoir. Joel invites us into his story and asks the reader to reflect on their own life... Of all the books I’ve read that deal with making sense of a spirituality and world view you are born into, this is the most generous, inclusive and graceful. Joel’s prose is stunning and his heart is authentic. In conversations that usually end up in binary, boxed and unhelpful sides and structures, this book invites us to imagine a much more holistic and meaningful way of being. So grateful for this book."
(Alison- GoodReads)
The AudioBook Version
A book about the Spiritual Journey
(AUDIBLE- 4.9 rating).
2020
The audio version of Joel McKerrow's WOVEN is read by the author (and being that he is a performance poet, it is a wonderful listen) with music by David Andrew. Joel Mckerrow doesn't just read you the book, he gives you an experience of it. It can be found wherever you get good audio books.
"I didn’t intend on binge listening to this book, but that’s exactly what happened. Joel McKerrow your words were Medicinal, your story so humbly raw and honest. I honour you as artist, as Christian, as fellow human being. I have 1 hour and something to go of my 7 hour audiobook journey, but I have cried 5 times & my heart has been gripped more times than I can count. Thank you for your medicine: 🙏 Get your ears and eyes around Woven... A beautiful tapestry of faith that brought me comfort and discomfort the way art and faith should..." (Allison- GoodReads)
2020
Celebrating TEN YEARS of Poetry
A compilation of New tracks, Old tracks, Live tracks, remixed and more. Available through all streaming services NOW. Released 21st September 2020.
