Silver Island

In which Island joins with Silver Words to create something beautiful…a weekly performance, spoken word, open mic, poetry blog: Silver Island

(title may be a work in progress)

‘They say I’m a saviour, I cry like a weeping willow – oh,

But I’ve been a waster, drifting a dream on a silver pillow…’

Max Bladel at Silver Words III – 20/6/13

Welcome word fanatics one and all! It’s that special time of the year where we once again celebrate the Australian Poetry SLAM! National Competition turning its eye on Tasmania and Hobart this Friday 19th July at Frankies Empire. With Australian Poetry SLAM! champ Luka Lessons making an appearance at Students of Sustainability up in the North of Tassie earlier this week – having just been all around the world giving poetry slam workshops – one can clearly see the benefit of becoming the Australian champion: instant worldwide recognition. We may even consider him some sort of lucky totem signifying that this year’s national champ will come from the Island! More on this tomorrow on Islandia.

Spoken Word is fast becoming the exciting alternative media, accessible to all ages, but focused on youth culture and being built from the ground up. America has been paving the way for years with TV shows like Def Poetry  – a Spoken Word TV show produced by rapper Mos Def – and events such as the World Poetry SLAM.

If you have ever done a Youtube search of Poetry SLAMs you will find the majority appear to be American – and there is a tendency towards an impassioned, angry style of poem and delivery (fuelled and driven by the hip-hop culture).

But what of Australian spoken word? Better yet, what about Tasmanian Spoken Word?

Silver Words, Hobart’s spoken word open mic night held every second Thursday, has played host to all sorts of performances, from a capella singing of old mythical songs to modern day hip-hop style rapping; from eerie to erotic poetry; from the cute to the explicit; we’ve had the old, the young, the beautiful and the ugly. But in all this a pattern seems to have emerged – and not one that is necessarily impassioned, nor do Tasmanian Spoken Word performers seem angry; but rather, a certain sense of larrikin-ism is balanced with the need to be respected and taken seriously as an artist. Challenging concepts, ideals and moral values twist midst the colourful, varied and creative writing.

Three weeks ago, Silver Words III provided a warm mass of bodies for another eclectic range of performers.  The two main acts of the night were Max Bladel – delivering some of Hobart’s finest hip-hop flows and Thomas Connelly, author, poet, book seller and contributor to Write Response. Fantastic performances also came from Heather Freedman – delivering colloquialisms and poems about cigarettes; Drayfus, Will, Ben, Sam, James and crying tears of blood – Kevin Mullins.

Read the review of the night by Thomas Connelly – he notes that some people had described the night as ‘awful’ and ‘atrocious’ (!)

Last week saw Spoken Word artists declare their independence at the 4thJuly Silver Words IV Protest! Poetry Special. On the night, D-Rad (from NZ), dropped in to light up the evening with some wicked hip-hop rapping. Other performances included Erik Christensen, a 16-year-old (again!) Ian Murtagh, Josh Durno and Milo Bean. The night was thoroughly enjoyable and even though it was particularly cold, Frankies warmed us all up with some delicious soup, sandwiches, coffee and cake.

Also, last weekend on Sunday 7^th July I performed some of my poetry at the Republic Bar & Cafe Poetry Readings. This was a more traditional style of poetry reading – and was thoroughly enjoyable. There were some beautiful poems, read by both published and non-published poets, including some really heartfelt poetry about the death of a friend and some wonderful pieces of eloquent wordplay – from stories capturing the essence of the forest, and poems gleaning the grit of the city.

The next few months at Silver Words will be really exciting. Currently we are mixing/mastering our first audio recording and editing our first DVD. There is also a big rumour about Silver Words is going on the radio!… Stay tuned (get it?)!

Bookmark it:

This Friday is the Small Press House Writers Festival, Friday 12^th July at Frankies Empire

Next Friday is the Hobart Heat of the Australian Poetry SLAM! Friday 19^th July, this event is free/relies on donations and is BYO, so if you feel you need a glass/bottle of wine to truly enjoy poetry, here is your chance!

For more information about the Australian Poetry SLAM! Contact Cameron at tpf_inc@yahoo.com.au

For more information about Silver Words contact Adonis Storr at adonis.storr@facebook.com

Read more from Adonis Storr