Sunraysia’s spoken word artists have a chance to showcase their talents to an international audience by entering the Mildura heat of the Australian Poetry Slam this month.
To be held at the Mildura Library at 7pm on Thursday 12 September, the Mildura heat will provide 20 people with a chance to showcase their talents with a two-minute performance.
The top two local slam champions as judged by audience members will win a spot in the Victorian final at State Library Victoria on Friday 4 October.
The winner and runner-up of the State final will then travel to Sydney to compete against the best wordsmiths from across the country at the Australian Poetry Slam national final at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday 20 October.
The Australian winner will take their work on an international tour to perform at Byron Writers Festival, Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Singapore Writers Festival and Hong Kong International Literacy Festival.
Councillor for Arts and Culture said the Mildura heat provided a chance for artists to perform across a broad range of styles as well have their talents recognised at State, national or even international level.
“Artists can speak, scream, howl, whisper or even sing their poems, stories, lyrics or monologues, which opens this up to a wide range of artists,” Cr Modica said.
“By performing well in the Mildura heat, Australian Poetry Slam offers a unique opportunity for local performing artists to be heard and seen on a massive scale.”
The Mildura heat will be presented and overseen by award-winning writer, speaker, educator and community arts worker Joel McKerrow, who is one of Australia’s most successful international touring performance poets.
Australian Poetry Slam is open to people of all ages, however entrants under 18 must have written consent from a parent or guardian.
The Mildura heat will start at 7pm at the Mildura Library, with registrations at 6.30pm.
The first 15 people registered will be selected to perform. If more than 20 people register the remaining five entries will be drawn from a hat. Each participant must be prepared to perform two different poems.
Poems must be the original work of the performer, written in the past 12 months. Performances are strictly limited to two-minutes each.
No musical accompaniment, props or costumes, including clothing related to the poem content, are permitted.
