South Australian Slam Season Sets In

For the initiated, Poetry Slam may sound like something involving Shakespeare in a boxing ring.

Don’t be fooled. Emerging from the USA in the '80s, the slam scene brought poetry off the shelves, blew off the dust and fed it back to the people. Poetry slam is a competition anyone can enter, where competitors are thrown to the wolves with two minutes to perform spoken word, hip-hop, haiku or whatever and random members from the audience are the judges. Sound a little irreverent? Absolutely.

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The Australian Poetry Slam has run for ten years and South Australia is on the bandwagon with five heats followed by a state final that sends the winner to the national final at the Sydney Opera House. 

Long-time writer and performer Kami McInnes from Spoken Word S.A. coordinates and hosts the S.A. heats and final alongside fellow poet Daniel Watson. “I started reading and performing way back in the late '90s”, Kami explains. “That audience was mainly from the music/ band scene so I had to be short, sharp and get their attention. Standing in front of 100 drunken punks at a gig makes a poetry slam seem pretty tame!”

2014 National Winner – Zohab Zee Khan © Chris Peken

These days Kami still reads at open mic events and the odd guest spots but doesn’t compete anymore, he’d rather give the next generation of poets a leg-up. He describes how the local scene has expanded in recent years; “we have a fast growing group of younger poets who are stepping up and taking over. It has become an art form that so many different groups/ ethnicities/ ages have realised is a perfect vehicle for them to get their words and thoughts out there.

“The most exciting thing about any of the heats is seeing the new faces, the younger participants, but particularly in areas such as Salisbury and Woodcroft where you can get a totally different demographic than in the city.”

Every heat also features a local artist. “We try and spread the love and offer something different at each heat,” says Kami. He divulges that this year they’re bringing comedians, journalists, musicians, a big brother contestant, and a past national finalist to perform.

“The fact that it gives anyone and everyone a soapbox, an opportunity to have their say and that as an art-form it has no real boundaries. Short, sharp, powerful words that hit people and make them think or react or even get up and try it themselves. What’s not to like? I grew up in an era where poetry in schools was staid and boring and very much establishment, poetry slams are anything but.

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“I love seeing the new blood, the new faces and hearing them kick my arse. That’s the way it should be after all.”

The Australian Poetry Slam will have five heats and a state final.

SA POETRY SLAM HEATS

Heat 1: 21 August – SA Writers Centre
Heat 2: 28 August – Salisbury Institute
Heat 3: 4 September – State Library of S.A.
Heat 4: 11 September – Woodcroft Library
Heat 5: 17 September – Wheatsheaf Hotel
State Final: 24 September – Goodwood Institute