2013
February 2013 - David Merritt
David is a poet from the back of beyond who creates poetry books from the detritus of established books, recycling them, adding his own poetics and saving them from the landfill. He is the man behind the David Merritt Poetry Experience.
March 2013 - Kirsti Whalen
Australian-residing Kiwi poet Kirsti Whalen burst onto the Melbourne spoken word scene in 2012. Her beautifully crafted words, delivered with unflinching honesty and vulnerability, captivate audiences. Kirsti is a member of the Centre for Poetics and Justice, crew-member of the Slamalamadingdong Poetry Slam, founder and director of The Unsaid Things, a self-expression project for people with disabilities, and regular performer and feature at poetry events across Melbourne and the world.
April 2013 - Laurie-Jane May
All the way from the middle of outback Australia, Laurie May is a resistance poet challenging societal norms and perspectives on poverty. Following a successful spoken word debut at Woodford Folk Festival, Laurie May has stories to share, rants to rave and truths to lay down.
May 2013 - Duncan Hope
Duncan Hope is a stalwart of the slam scene and organiser of Victoria University's upcoming slam poetry event. Duncan's poems have been described as "a series of controlled explosions" and this month he has a special, medium-mixing performance planned to challenge all notions of what spoken word can be.
June 2013 - Ken Arkind & Carrie Rudzinski
Ken Arkind is a US National Poetry Slam Champion, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Champion and published author who has performed his work in 49 States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. He is the current Executive Director of Minor Disturbance, an independent literary arts organization dedicated to helping Denver youth find voice through the mediums of poetry of performance.
Named "Best Female Poet" at her first national poetry competition in 2008, Carrie Rudzinski has since performed her work for audiences across the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and India. She represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam, twice at the National Poetry Slam (2010/2011), and ranked 14th at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam. Her newest collection of work, The Shotgun Speaks, will be published in May 2013.
July 2013 - Mark Raffills
He doesn’t bike to work. He lives in Collingwood. Writes poems when he should be writing other words. Sometimes tells his poems to people. Takes them on the road too - travels and performs a couple of times a year with the group Dirt Floor Alliance. All in all it’s about the Word which has sustained his ups and downs for as long as he can remember. He’s made a couple of books. Might make another soon. Organises some poetry shows around Nelson.
August 2013 - South Auckland Poets CollectiveThe South Auckland Poets Collective was first established in 2008 by co-founders Grace Taylor, Ramon Narayan and Daren Kamali as part of an initiative under Youthline. One of the values held by this collective is to use spoken word poetry as a tool for positive social change with a focus on young people. The poets performing are: Mafi Tavo, Zane Scarborough, Dietrich Soakai, Marina Alefosio, Sacha Norrie, Luti Richards, Lina Tukunga, Victor Kalolo & Ryan Teura.
September 2013 - Michael Howard
To be as objective as possible in writing his bio, Michael Howard looked to Wikipedia for an accurate description of himself. The page Michael Howard (disambiguation) gave the occupations of, it's safe to assume, all the world's Michael Howards. These were: British politician, filmmaker, American actor, comedian, Irish politician, historian, Earl of Suffolk, musician, software security expert, fencer, footballer and baseball player. Somewhat confusingly, 'total babe' wasn't on the list. At this point Michael concluded that he must be the Earl of Suffolk.
November 2013 - Ali Jacs
After getting involved in the spoken word/performance poetry community in the Canadian prairies, Ali returned home to NZ in 2010 and in early 2012 started Poetry in Motion. She has competed in two National Poetry Slams, placing 2nd in 2011 and winning the title last year. She has performed in Canada, the UK, Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco and all around New Zealand, and earlier this year travelled to Minneapolis to compete in the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Ali is passionate about the potential of spoken word poetry to lead positive change and to help people improve their public speaking and communication skills. She has recently self-published her first chapbook Romantic Pragmatism.
David is a poet from the back of beyond who creates poetry books from the detritus of established books, recycling them, adding his own poetics and saving them from the landfill. He is the man behind the David Merritt Poetry Experience.
March 2013 - Kirsti Whalen
Australian-residing Kiwi poet Kirsti Whalen burst onto the Melbourne spoken word scene in 2012. Her beautifully crafted words, delivered with unflinching honesty and vulnerability, captivate audiences. Kirsti is a member of the Centre for Poetics and Justice, crew-member of the Slamalamadingdong Poetry Slam, founder and director of The Unsaid Things, a self-expression project for people with disabilities, and regular performer and feature at poetry events across Melbourne and the world.
April 2013 - Laurie-Jane May
All the way from the middle of outback Australia, Laurie May is a resistance poet challenging societal norms and perspectives on poverty. Following a successful spoken word debut at Woodford Folk Festival, Laurie May has stories to share, rants to rave and truths to lay down.
May 2013 - Duncan Hope
Duncan Hope is a stalwart of the slam scene and organiser of Victoria University's upcoming slam poetry event. Duncan's poems have been described as "a series of controlled explosions" and this month he has a special, medium-mixing performance planned to challenge all notions of what spoken word can be.
June 2013 - Ken Arkind & Carrie Rudzinski
Ken Arkind is a US National Poetry Slam Champion, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Champion and published author who has performed his work in 49 States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. He is the current Executive Director of Minor Disturbance, an independent literary arts organization dedicated to helping Denver youth find voice through the mediums of poetry of performance.
Named "Best Female Poet" at her first national poetry competition in 2008, Carrie Rudzinski has since performed her work for audiences across the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and India. She represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam, twice at the National Poetry Slam (2010/2011), and ranked 14th at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam. Her newest collection of work, The Shotgun Speaks, will be published in May 2013.
July 2013 - Mark Raffills
He doesn’t bike to work. He lives in Collingwood. Writes poems when he should be writing other words. Sometimes tells his poems to people. Takes them on the road too - travels and performs a couple of times a year with the group Dirt Floor Alliance. All in all it’s about the Word which has sustained his ups and downs for as long as he can remember. He’s made a couple of books. Might make another soon. Organises some poetry shows around Nelson.
August 2013 - South Auckland Poets CollectiveThe South Auckland Poets Collective was first established in 2008 by co-founders Grace Taylor, Ramon Narayan and Daren Kamali as part of an initiative under Youthline. One of the values held by this collective is to use spoken word poetry as a tool for positive social change with a focus on young people. The poets performing are: Mafi Tavo, Zane Scarborough, Dietrich Soakai, Marina Alefosio, Sacha Norrie, Luti Richards, Lina Tukunga, Victor Kalolo & Ryan Teura.
September 2013 - Michael Howard
To be as objective as possible in writing his bio, Michael Howard looked to Wikipedia for an accurate description of himself. The page Michael Howard (disambiguation) gave the occupations of, it's safe to assume, all the world's Michael Howards. These were: British politician, filmmaker, American actor, comedian, Irish politician, historian, Earl of Suffolk, musician, software security expert, fencer, footballer and baseball player. Somewhat confusingly, 'total babe' wasn't on the list. At this point Michael concluded that he must be the Earl of Suffolk.
November 2013 - Ali Jacs
After getting involved in the spoken word/performance poetry community in the Canadian prairies, Ali returned home to NZ in 2010 and in early 2012 started Poetry in Motion. She has competed in two National Poetry Slams, placing 2nd in 2011 and winning the title last year. She has performed in Canada, the UK, Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco and all around New Zealand, and earlier this year travelled to Minneapolis to compete in the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Ali is passionate about the potential of spoken word poetry to lead positive change and to help people improve their public speaking and communication skills. She has recently self-published her first chapbook Romantic Pragmatism.