Mitcham Slam Heat, SA

Over 95 people enjoyed "One Bohemian Night" - Heat 3 at Mitcham Library on Tuesday October 18th.

There were circus performers, french coffee, cheese and decadent desserts!

The South Australian heats are turning into events everyone wants to be at.....

20 poets performed and after yet another tough battle, Kami was the winner and Felix came runner up.

They're the 8th finalists to make it through to the SA State Final. SA has two more heats coming up, only 4 places remaining!

We interviewed Heat 3 winner Kami

Age - 47

Location - Adelaide

Level of Education – first term year 11 ! (then got the boot)

Experience with writing and performing - too many years of poetry, slams, freelance writing, 2009 runner up SA finals, two novellas out, winner Poetry Unhinged 2010 single poetry prize.

A small testimonial outlining your experience of the slam, why you entered and your relationship with poetry
Why did I enter? Ego maybe or just because I want to get the words out instead of in and because I seem to be okay at this stuff. Have slammed, spoke, slurred for a decade now and figure I might be getting good at it by now! As for my relationship to poetry… I’m sure many would agree when I say I’m not a poet, more like a failed front man in a shitty punk band maybe? If I hadn’t discovered Bukowski and then the beats I wouldn’t have anything to do with poetry. Highschool poetry left a nasty taste in my mouth.

Have you performed in front of an audience before?
Yes, many times… on and off stage! Performed in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle - SA State Runner Up 2009 National Poetry Slam

How did you feel performing your own writing?
Beats reading someone else’s.

Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer?
Bukowski is an obvious influence but I’m influenced by musicians, writers, old blokes at the bar… anyone with a story to tell. My writing is very personal and working class but hopefully still rings true for others. I’m trying to reach an audience that perhaps thinks they don’t like poetry but really it’s just because they haven’t heard anything with relevance to their own lives, that’s the people I try to touch, not the literati or other poets but actual people. That seems to confuse folk.

Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why?
Of course it is. We need to keep our own identity and by that I don’t just mean bush ballads and cold chisel covers, I mean a sense of “us”, of what we are and what we do, feel, think. It’s a pretty unique place, even if we don’t realise it at times.

Youtube clips to come soon