Australian Poetry Slam Champion (2014)

In the past I shared with you the Australian Poetry Slam Champion of 2008, Omar Bin Musa. I also posted links to videos of the 2012 and 2013 champions CJ Bowerbird and Jesse John Brand. Each year I check out the heats and finals, hopeful that I'll find a poet who sparks my interest as much as Omar Bin Musa. While it still hasn't happened, I'm hopeful that 2015 is the year.

In the meantime, check out the 2014 winner, Zohab Zee Khan and his winning poem "I write". The first couple of minutes capture a little interview he had after he hops down off stage. Around 2m13s is where you can see the performance that got him the win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ8cWushNq0&feature=youtu.be

Unfortunately I couldn't find the written poem anywhere on the net to share along with the video. However, I did find out that he is the founding director of Zee Poetics, an organization that aims to inspire a new generation of poets through performance based workshops. He actually visits many of local schools in my area and provides these workshops to students. As a teacher who has sadly been told by many students that poetry is 'lame' and a 'waste of time', it makes me happy to read in my local paper that this poet is actually out there inspiring kids in my area.

Let me know what you think of this style and if you enjoyed the winning poem.

Love it!

Performance poetry is a whole different style. He uses repetition, cadence, inflection and body language so perfectly balanced. And so OUT there. He reminds me of the coffee house poets I used to hear in my youth.

It's no wonder he was perennially in the finals. I'm glad he finally won and that his book will be legit published by a real pub-house.