Meet the NSW State Finalists!
The NSW State Final is on THIS Friday, 4th November at the Sydney Theatre.
Grab your tickets here and then get to know the people performing!
Grenfell
Winner - Jo Wilson-Ridley
Runner Up - John Moyes
Katoomba
Winner - Greg North
Runner Up - Sandy Holmes
South West Rocks
Winner - Lynne Holten
Runner Up - Eddie Mallett
Forbes
Winner - Keith Rawsthorne
Runner Up - Ted Webber
Wagga Wagga
Winner - Zohab Khan
Runner Up - Rebecca Altmann
Marrickville
Winner - Mugunthan Gunasingan
Runner Up - Alan Pham
Glebe
Winner - Catherina Behan
Runner Up - Christopher Wright
Some of our NSW Finalists very kindly took the time to be interviewed, either via email or phone, so we are able to give you an insight into who they are (in no particular order)!
Sandy Holmes is an Environmental Education Program Coordinator who was a National Finalist last year:
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
Lots – grew up in PACT Youth Theatre, nowadays I MC and perform poetry at music festivals.
How did you feel performing your own writing?
I love it! For me, it’s an essential part of my writing: the words are meaningless until someone else finds meaning in them.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
I am a fan of rhythm and rhyme: I love the dancing, the order that metric form brings to language. Favourite writers include Banjo Patterson, Spike Milligan, Pam Ayres, Roger McGough,
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
I think it’s important for Australians to use their talents to express ideas and stimulate social thought and action. For some of us, yes, that’s writing and performing, and for some of us, it’s as important as breathing
What inspires you?
Laughter, dragonflies, great storytellers, vegetable gardens, music festivals, nylon stringed guitars, naughty teenagers, double standards, Fantail Cuckoos, Poets Breakfasts, kids in the bush, stone stairs in forests, people who are passionate, old fashioned swings and slippery dips, cardamom, citrus and cloves, ribbon gums, the western sun on the cliffs, observations of toddlers,
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
I live in a quirky little tourist town called Katoomba, in the heart of the Blue Mountains. It’s an amazing place to live, 1000 metres above sea level – surrounded by a million hectares of World Heritage listed habitat. It’s a mixed community brimming with inspired artists and musicians, conservationists and adventurers of all kinds. It’s my home.
Lynne Holten is a woman of Of Dunghutti and Gumbaingyrr descent who is involved in Elders Cultural and Family History Project:
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
Yes, if you can call university and TAFE students an audience.
How did you feel performing your own writing?
It's neither here nor there however, I have been at times known for liking the sound of my own voice.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
I enjoy all types of writing, from autobiographies to potboilers and everywhere in between, I sometimes buy science magazines for leisure reading, my favourite authors are Graham Greene and Ruth Rendell.
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
I think it is important for anybody to write and perform their own work as writing your own work is as much about exercising your brain and exercising your brain is important.
What inspires you?
Life, family and friends particularly the stories that other people tell me about the lives they have lived and life’s little moments.
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
I live in Kempsey, fortunately above the flood mark, I have lived in Kempsey most of my life apart from the thirty years, that I spent wandering around both urban and remote Australia. I returned home almost three years ago. Kempsey is a reasonably sized town that is situated within the splendour of the Macleay Valley, and is home to a rich history of life’s experiences that I am currently exploring through the Elders Cultural and Family History Project that I am involved with. It amazes me that the kids today think life is boring and that there is nothing to do, when I was a kid growing up around here we would wander all over the place getting into mischief and watching the sun, because that’s when we had to be in the front door, before the sun went down. I always say that why a lot of those of my generation where into sports and really good at running, because there were times that we had to make that last mile in a matter of minutes. The beauty of this place masks a history of violence, oppression and coercion that is being confronted today.
Joanne Wilson-Ridley has worked and studied in a number of fields. She is currently juggling running a home with 2 boys, contract work and volunteer work in local community groups. She hopes to go back to uni to do further study of creative writing.
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
I've been performing poetry for just on 2 years and have mostly performed at Country Festivals and Writers' Events. I've enjoyed performing in interesting venues such as Art Galleries and Pubs and more recently at a winery in Griffith.
How did you feel performing your own writing?
Sometimes it can feel as if you are reliving past experiences and improving on them. I have a poem I wrote about finding out I was accidentally pregnant at a time that was less than convenient for my husband and I. Each time I recite the poem I relive the first intense moments when we were both thinking 'Holy Shit - what now!' The poem has transformed these moments into something that is funny and humorous.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
I enjoy the work of Kate Jennings, who hails from the Riverina. I also enjoy Cate Kennedy's work.
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
Yes - it gives Australians a voice and a chance to document their own unique history and life.
What inspires you?
I'm inspired to make the most of time in this life through experiences and personal connections. I'm inspired by my husband and children, by travel (particularly the initial moment when you are taking off in a plane or pulling out of the driveway to leave on a roadtrip). I'm inspired by Art and visiting galleries. I'm inspired to identify special moments when they are happening, which can often be in everyday life. A wise old friend taught me a number of years ago the value of knowing when a moment was special and to savour it.
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
Seven years ago my family moved to tiny rural town 670km south west from Sydney (where we did live) called Coleambally. The town has 660 people, no traffic lights, boasts 3 sporting ovals, 1 pub, 1 club, 2 schools, 3 churches, 3 banks and a huge water tower in the shape of a wine glass. The town is the youngest town in NSW specifically created as part of an irrigation initiative. Most locals are irrigation farmers growing rice, wheat, corn and cattle/sheep farming. Last year our town made it to the front page of the Australian Financial Review when it was identified as one of six towns unlikely to survive the proposed water cuts of the Murray Darling Basin Authority. Water rights remain a contentious issue yet despite uncertainty I am inspired by the resilience of locals. Even more inspiring about living in Coleambally are the amazing sunsets. We live not far from the Hay Plains which are described as the flatest region in the southern hemisphere. The dome skies play host to heart stopping sunsets, star-filled nights and full moons so bright you are almost deceived into thinking it was day.
Gregory North is a performance poet who loves his work and was a State Finalist last year:
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
Yes, many times. I love it. It's what makes me come alive.
How did you feel performing your own writing?
Great. It's always wonderful to have an audience to present my own work to.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
I really enjoy humour and love the challenge of rhyme and rhythm.
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
Absolutely! Everyone has something to say, something to contribute. As Miles says, we need to hear the voices of those outside the mainstream media and poetry, poetry slams particularly, are a great way to do that. Australia has its own culture and way of looking at the world and it's through experiences like poetry slams that we can express that culture and escape media stereotypes and imposed ideas. Real people telling their own real stories.
What inspires you?
The things that people say and how funny they can be.
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
I'm very lucky to be next to the native bushland of the Blue Mountains National Park. It's great to be able to look out on to the natural surroundings and enjoy the sight and sounds of the birds. Linden is a small village with no shops, but great people. How lucky am I?
Ted Webber lives in Young, is retired and believes in the importance of Australians telling their own stories:
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
Yes
How did you feel performing your own writing?
OK, but nervous.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
My usual style is traditional rhyme and meter. Favourite poetry author, C J Dennis
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
If we don’t write and tell our stories then as time passes they will be forgotten and so will we, just born and death details on a tombstone.
What inspires you?
Nothing specific but every so often the muse sits on my shoulder and demands attention.
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
Young, On the South West Slopes of NSW, is known as the Cherry Capital of Australia. Busy little town of approx 12000, very pretty in spring and autumn.
Zohab Khan is a student at Charles Sturt University and is looking forward to competing in Sydney on Friday:
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
I’ve been lucky enough to perform on stage on many occasions.
How did you feel performing your own writing?
It’s always a bit of a rush performing on stage. Nothing really beats the feeling when you put your own words out there and people really feel what you have to say.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
I experiment with a lot of different styles of writing, but at the end of the day I have the most fun writing in an unstructured free verse manner, I think it’s the best means of portraying a story to the audience.
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
I think it is integral that spoken word poetry continues to grow in Australia. We are lucky enough to live in such an amazing country and I belive it is important for us to reflect this in our writing.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by the stories of life, so many little things happen during our lifetime that we either forget or never hear about, as a poet my goal is to capture those little moment and preserve them. Creating change is my inspiration.
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
I call Wagga Wagga home, at times it isn’t the most exciting of places but it has its moments. It’s far from a country town but not quite a big city, I enjoy the in between limbo of having the best of both worlds.
Eddie Mallett is our youngest State finalist ever! He's an 11 year old, Year 5 student who is not afraid to perform. He has been part of the Stuarts Point Players for 3 years where they perform musicals, as well as run workshops and teach members the technical side of things, such as how to work the lighting.
The poem Eddie performed at the South West Rocks heat was his first poem! He was inspired to write a poem and enter the slam after a writer came to his school to teach the students about poetry. He mentioned the Australian Poetry Slam and Eddie was keen to have a go.
Eddie enjoys reading R. L. Stine's 'Goosebumps' series, 'The Hunger Games' trilogy by Suzanne Collins and the works of his neighbour and local South West Rocks writer, Adam.
Eddie is very much looking forward to performing in Sydney.
Alan Pham is Houston, Texas born with a Vietnamese heritage. He's final year medical student working at Blacktown Hospital. He was last year's NSW champion and finalist in the National:
Have you performed in front of an audience before?
I participated in some spoken word and slam events back in the States, so I have had a few chances here and there to perform in front of a crowd. The energy of the crowd, the feedback, the connection I feel when I get in front of that mic and look right into people's eyes as I perform my pieces...it is an indescribable rush to be up on that stage.
How did you feel performing your own writing?
It's a terrifying experience performing your own poetry in front of an audience full of strangers. As poets, we put so much of ourselves into our writing, our hearts bleed ink onto the page and our souls breathe emotion into every word we speak. We make ourselves incredibly vulnerable for the sake of connecting with our audiences, in the hopes that our minds connect through a tapestry of words woven by experience and imagination.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
For me, the purpose of spoken word poetry is to convey a message, to connect with strangers at a level far beyond verbal communication. I first began writing as a means of advocacy, bringing attention to issues like racism, discrimination, and hate crimes perpetrated against Asian-Americans back home. Poetry is an outlet for me, an avenue to divert my energy at times when emotions overflow and become more than my brain can contain. Because of this, the vast majority of my pieces are written to be powerful, moving, and filled with provactive emotions like anger, hatred, sadness, despair, fear, uncertainty, desire, and love.
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
The act of creating poetry is a very personal experience. Authenticity lends meaning, significance and strength to the words we put on a page. Without that intense connection between the poet and his work, what comes across to the audience is a mere shadow of the true intent and purpose of a piece. I would say its incredibly important for everyone to write and perform their own material, because the power of a piece lies in this shared experience between a poet and his audience.
What inspires you?
My work is inspired by the stories I see and hear in my life. Some of them come from my parents, some from my friends, and some come via my patients...but I think the majority come from issues that are very personal to me. It's so much easier to convey emotions and meaning in words when you've actually lived and experienced them yourself, rather than trying to put someone else's interpretation into your own words.
Tell us a little bit about where you live.
I live in Strathfield currently, which has a wonderfully diverse cultural mix of people and restaurants. It's quiet, convenient, and overall a pretty nice place to live =)
Forbes winner, Keith Rawsthorne is unfortunately unable to make the NSW Final, but we had to acknowledge his efforts in writing a poem to apologise for his absence:
As I am unable to attend the State Finals I offer a few (hurried, unpolished) lines;-
As so often in our fates
there has been a clash of dates.
We've Golden Wedding celebrations
with lots of friends and dear relations
So to abandon my family post
and not play the perfect host
would cause a certain conflagration - disputation.
And though I speak through gritted teeth
there'll be no SLAM this year for Keith
And I'm sorry that I'm late, with this apology old mate
for I know the SLAMMING will be great.
So good luck and best regards from a disappointed Keith.
Copyright Keith Rawsthorne 2011
So now that you have "met" some of the NSW Finalists, what are you waiting for?! If you haven't got your ticket for Friday, be quick! There are literally only a few seats left. Don't miss out!