2023
Liz Breslin is a writer, editor and performer of Polish and Irish descent, now living in Ōtepoti Dunedin. Liz’s poem collections are In bed with the feminists (Dead Bird Books, 2021) and Alzheimer’s and a spoon (OUP, 2017, 2021). They’ve co-created ‘rail:lines’ with Laura Williamson and Annabel Wilson and ‘the possibilities project’ with Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature. Liz is a creative critical PhD candidate at the University of Otago, cutting and pasting scraps to warp settler coloniser narratives of the rural south of Te Waipounamu.
www.lizbreslin.com |
2022
ArunDitha is a poet, singer and spaceholder born in Singapore and based in Hāwea, Aotearoa. They have won poetry slams in Singapore, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, and each time has always been a pleasant surprise. Their work has been featured at things like the Barcelona International Poetry Festival, Q Berlin Questions, the Makassar International Writers Festival and TEDx Singapore.
They have been invited as a resident writer and performer in places like The Watermill Center in Long Island NY, Literarisches Colloquium Berlin and The Marpha Foundation Nepal, where they have developed multiple modalities in short fiction and one-person-shows. Under the name Deborah Emmanuel, they have written the books When I Giggle In My Sleep (2015), Rebel Rites (2016) and Genesis Visual Poetry Collection (2018). When not writing or performing poetry, ArunDitha makes music with Mantravine and Kiat, teaches workshops, and supports creative/intuitive powerhouses around the world as an Expression Coach with their practice at www.be-your-self.love |
2021
Hannah Marshall is a Wellingtonian but soon-to-be Dunedinite moving down south to escape expensive rent and annoying wind. She just finished her first year at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University, where she completed a poetry course through the university’s International Institute of Modern Letters. Besides poetry, she has also published work in Tearaway, The New Zealand Review of Books, and The Sapling.
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2020
Emer Lyons is a lesbian writer from West Cork currently living in Dunedin in the last weeks of a creative/critical PhD on shame in lesbian poetry. Her critical and creative work has been published worldwide in The Stinging Fly, Poetry Ireland Review, Into the Void, The Cardiff Review, and takahē. She has been shortlisted for the Bridport poetry prize, longlisted for the Fish poetry prize, and Munster Literature Centre's Fool for Poetry chapbook competition. Her play The Green was nominated for the 2019 Dunedin Theatre Awards.
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2019
Nathan Joe is a Chinese-Kiwi playwright, performance poet and critic based in Ōtautahi. His work largely focuses on the slipperiness of identity and the politics of desire.
Nathan was the inaugural writer in residence for the NZ Young Writers Festival in 2019, the Ursula Bethell writer in residence at The University of Canterbury in 2020, and a Michael King Writer Centre resident in 2021. His latest play 'Scenes from a Yellow Peril' will be presented at the Auckland Arts Festival as a rehearsed reading in 2021. More information on his most recent work can be found at: nathanjoe.com |
2018
Nell O'Dwyer-Strang is an occasional poet ranting about anything and everything that ticks her off. She lives in Ōtepoti with a partner, a baby, three chihuahuas and a very tolerant cat.
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2016
Christian Tucker is a spoken poet and musician resining in Dunedin, studying law and English at Otago University. Recently, Christian blended his love and passion for spoken word into music and songwriting, releasing his debut ep The Ugly in early 2020. He continues to perform both spoken word and music in many different venues and occasions around the area.
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2014
Olivia Hall is a kiwi performance poet currently based in London, where she recently completed her masters in gender. Liv came third at the 2015 New Zealand Slam Championships and was named the 2019 Genesis Slam Champion in London. She is one half of How We Survive with Carrie Rudzinski, and they've toured their feminist spoken word show in NZ twice.
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2013
Annelyse Gelman is the author of the poetry collection Everyone I Love Is a Stranger to Someone (2014, Write Bloody), the artist’s book POOL (2020, NECK), and the EP About Repulsion (2019, Fonograf Editions). Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, BOMB Magazine, the PEN Poetry Series, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Gelman also directs Midst (www.midst.press), a digital platform for capturing, saving, and sharing the writing process.
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2013
Eliana Gray is a poet, youth worker and arts facillitator. They like queer subtext, collaborative writing and making sure people have a nice time. They have had words in: SPORT, Landfall, Poetry NZ, Mayhem, and others. Their debut collection, Eager to Break, was published by Girls On Key Press in 2019, and in 2020 they undertook residencies in both Finland and Ōtepoti.
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Spirit of the Slam Award
2023
Desi Liversage (she/her) entered the poetry slam on the spur of the moment one morning and turned up (but almost didn’t) that evening. This was her first ever slam. Her world is defined by how far she can walk and bus and currently writes observational phone poems on the bus. She is also a textile artist and occasionally runs workshops on embellishing and upcycling clothing. Her poetry and art are intertwined as one informs the other.
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2022
Hannah Daniell is a student masquerading as a writer in order to trick people into thinking she knows what she’s doing. So far this deception has been successful, as people continue to let her participate in slams, open mics, and poetry showcases. Currently no one has been bamboozled into publishing her poetry, but an ongoing effort is being made.
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2021
Reuben Crisp is an aspiring stand-up comedian. He runs a comedy open mic and occasionally performs poetry. He was very surprised to win this award and currently feels a bit strange writing this bio in the third person.
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