BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! takes on the Australian Poetry Slam

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! ran the Australian Poetry Slam this year in the Australian Capital Territory.

The Hand says Stop at The Phoenix Pub

This is the second time we have run the Canberra contribution, the previous being 2010. These are the only times there have been heats and a final.

CJ Bowerbird and Calum Reid at NewActon

Something I think BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! gets right is balancing respect for individual performers and their efforts.

The Master of Conflict
puts Jesh in the Corner

With healthy disregard for competitive outcomes from the poetry slam format.

The audience at NewActon

Part of that is having heats, so poets can have more than one shot to get through, but heats that are fun for everyone: audience, poets, organisers, judges, sound people, the staff at the venue, random people caught up in it.

CJ Bowerbird

And ensuring that the heats are accessible. 

People having fun at The Front

To that end we had heats in both locations that host poetry slams, The Phoenix Pub being the best of those, and in a non-poetry slam venue: Smiths Alternative Bookshop, which is a great venue for fun poetry events.

The audience at Smiths Alternative Bookshop

One of the things I like about both Smiths and The Phoenix Pub is how supportive the staff and owners are and always have been of us running poetry events in their venues.

Feature act Drew Walky
and bottles of wine

We had not asked Smiths to be a sponsor but they supplied multiple bottles of wine for our poetry lucky dip and door prize, which helped us raise money to pay our feature act.

Calum Reid and Erica Mallet win prizes at The Front

Getting the prizes right for a slam is important. Absolute Watchmen, from Impact Comics, a sticker from The Games Capital, along with a voucher for their store, and stuff BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! could not sell at a garage sale. 

Pete Huet looks with intent at the prize
Duncan Felton claims

These are all the best prizes since our last BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! best prizes.

The shirts of First Prize were won.

Melea Vera wears her Garage Sale First Prize

This is a happy poet winning First Prize.

First Prize from Impact Comics and The Games Capital

A poet won a bag. 

Aaron Kirby
wins First Prize

And the bag insert. 

Then things got serious.

A poet has a bag on his head because he won First Prize

And Julia Johnson rocked out.

Julia Johnson rocking out

All photos by Adam Thomas, thanks Adam Thomas. All prizes by Impact Comics, The Games Capital, Smiths Alternative Bookshop, The Elimatta Street Garage Sale, and thanks too to sponsors NewActon and The RiotACT.