Dramatic win for hip-hop poet in national ‘slam off’
STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
In a dramatic 'slam off' Canberra's Omar Musa has won the Australian Poetry Slam 2008, taking home $5,000 plus a gig at the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival next year.
Presented by the State Library of NSW, this historic National Grand Final was performed
before a sell out crowd at the Sydney Opera House last night [Thursday 4 December].
After calculating the scores of the competing 18 state and territory finalists, a 'slam off'
was needed to separate ACT's Omar Musa from Perth's Mark Lloyd.
The 23-year-old hip-hop artist, Omar Musa, emerged as the winner after performing a
powerful slam poem about an imaginary conversation with his first born child.
"I'm over the moon, events like this contemporary poetry competition revitalises a love for
the English language and literacy, making poetry more accessible, especially for younger
people, by mixing the slam approach and hip-hop," said Omar.
The national finalists had just two minutes to impress the judges (selected at random
from the audience) with their original spoken word, poetry, hip-hop, monologues and
stories.
The Australian Poetry Slam 08, an initiative of the State Library of NSW and Word Travels, saw more than 600 emerging poets and spoken word artists compete via 40
heats held in regional areas and city centres in every state and territory.
The competition was coordinated via state and public libraries, with state-based
professional spoken-word artists hosting the heats and running workshops in
schools, libraries, pubs and theatre spaces.
For the first time ABC Local Radio broadcast and streamed all state finals, plus
the National Grand Final, enabling more people to participate than ever before, including
the online community.
"The Australian Poetry Slam 08 gives individuals a stage to share their stories in a
complementary unique and dynamic way, and I'm thrilled that state and public
libraries are collectively driving this art form at the national level," says Mrs Sutton, NSW State Librarian and Chief Executive.
Spoken word artist and Slam co-organiser, Miles Merrill, and winner Omar
Image: Australian Poetry Slam 08 winner, Omar Musa from Canberra
