Generations collide at Tasmanian State Final

The Tasmanian State Final was held this afternoon, Sunday October 16th, at the Northern Club in Cameron Street, Launceston. A strong field of eight competitors from three regional heats gathered to strut their slam skills for one of two spots on a plane to Sydney. Sadly, a couple of regional heat winners were not able to attend.

Tasmania's state finalists were Lauren Hay and Lauren Butler, representing Devonport, James and David Basser from Hobart, and Tim Thorne, Lyndon Riggall and Valerie Tinmouth who made it through the Launceston regional heat back in August. The field was rounded out by Joan Webb, who gained wild-card entry into the State Final with her win in the Launceston Poetry Cup, held during last weekend's Tasmanian Poetry Festival.

Poems ranged across a fascinating ocean of subjects--American hegemony, visits to your door by Jehovah's Witnesses, spam emails with penis enlargement offers, an update on the adventures of the Man from Snowy River, the perils of looking for love in one's street. In the end, the honours went to 85-year-old Joan Webb and I will confidently that she is oldest state finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam's history. Runner up was Lyndon Riggall, a Hobart-based University student from Launceston.

A photo of Joan and Lyndon has been added to the Australian Poetry Slam's Facebook page.

Huge thanks to the Northern Club, Lark Distillery, Devonport Regional Gallery, Lesley Halm, the Tasmanian Writers Centre, and of course the fabulous Miles Merrill for dreaming up the whole thing in the first place. Cheers everyone.