CJ Bowerbird's killer vocab has taken out the Australian Poetry Slam National Finals over the weekend to a standing ovation at Sydney Theatre. Bowerbird from the ACT took out both the first and second round, wowing the audience of 500 to receive two perfect scores for his winning piece.
Bowerbird has won the once in a lifetime opportunity to tour Beijing, Chengdu and Souzhou in mainland China with Bookworm International Literary Festival, then on to Sydney Writers Festival and Ubud Writers Festival in Bali.
Not only is this an amazing opportunity to get valuable experience and exposure, the whole trip amounts to $11,000 worth of flights, accommodation, expenses and performer's fees.
The runner-up and winner of $500 is Jo Sri of QLD who was a close second to Bowerbird in both rounds. Gemma Boyd of SA, Laurie May from NT and Colin Berry of TAS all went through with Bowerbird and Sri to the second and deciding round.
Miles Merrill, founder of the Australian Poetry Slam, emphasised the equality slam poetry promotes, as the competition is open to performers of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. The judging process is also as democratic as the competition.
"We throw five chocolates into the audience and whoever catches one is a judge. We want the audience to be involved and engaged. The slam is a great way to gauge fresh emerging talent," Merrill says.
From June to November, heats have been underway in small towns and suburbs across the country. Communities have joined forces with libraries, youth centres, schools, bars, theatres, and festivals to choose their best local poets to represent the states in the big finale.
Slam poetry has come a long way from its birthplace in Chicago, where the first slam event took place in 1986. Australian Poetry Slam began in 2005 as Sydney Poetry Slam with 3 heats and a final at the State Library of NSW. Its been national since 2007 and is run by the not for profit organisation Word Travels.
Today the competition has 38 heats around the country with each state and territory hosting their own finals. Almost 1000 writers perform each year to an audience averaging over 500,000 live, on radio and online. In 2008, The Australian Poetry Slam partnered with the ABC and reached an audience of 4.3 million.
National Finalists Tasmania: Colin Berry West Australia: Chris Arnold, Belowsky South Australia: LaCole Foots, Gemma Boyd Queensland: Eleanor Jackson, Jo Sri Northern Territory: Laurie Jane May, Fred Vant Sand ACT: CJ Bowerbird, Calum Reid New South Wales: Zohab Z Khan, Jessica Santosa Victoria: Freya Dougan-Whaite, Sam Hasell