Prospect Slam Heat, SA
Heat 2 was held at Prospect Library on Wednesday night 28th September and was a slam record!
More than 70 guests braved the wild weather and ventured out to watch the slammers perform.
26 poets registered for the 20 available spots and well over 70 people were in the audience.
Everyone watch African drummers perform & a good time was had by all.
Congratulations go to John Sabine who has performed at SA Poetry Slams for the past 5 years and newcomer Abraham Freeman came runner up.
Looks like our next heat at Mitcham on Tuesday October 18th will see lots of poets vying for the last 6 spots & the chance to perform at the SA final - good luck guys, competition is heating up!
Photos coming soon.
Check out John's winning performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSBH5RX_KR0
Check out Abrahams performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI6XecwOqZE
We inteviewed Heat 2 winner John Sabine
Age - 77
Location - Hazelwood Park, S.A.
Level of Education - PhD
Experience with writing and performing - considerable experience over many years, and especially recently, with both writing (e.g. poetry, short stories, essays, memoirs, plays) and performing (lecturing, compering, theatre, film)
A small testimonial outlining your experience of the slam, why you entered and your relationship with poetry -
With my keen interest in poetry, both reading and writing, and in live performance the National Poetry Slam has obvious attractions for me. And the money doesn’t hurt, either. I have entered every year it has been operating in South Australia and was a heat runner-up in the first year. But, as I have a severe hearing impairment I have great difficulty understanding what the other contestants are saying in their performances. Thus I really haven’t a clue as to what wins and what doesn’t – I just keep plugging along. This year I struck gold.
Mini Interview -
Have you performed in front of an audience before? Yes, many times.
How did you feel performing your own writing? Great.
Do you have a favourite style of writing or a favourite writer? G. K. Chesterton would win, Mark Twain and Banjo Patterson as joint runners-up.
Do you think it is important for Australians to write and perform their own work and why? No, I don’t think it is especially important for Australians to write and perform their own work. I don’t like the implications in the question. Writing and performing one’s own work should simply be part of the cultural landscape of all peoples, as it has been throughout history. I am delighted that in Australia the National Poetry Slam both encourages and rewards this. Long may it prosper.