Australian Poetry Slam – verses versus verses
Image: Joanna Yang, winner of Australian Poetry Slam 2022. Photo: Nicola Bailey
Joanna Yang is the twenty-four-year-old, proud Chinese Australian, School Teacher who took out this year’s Australian Poetry Slam at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night.
Yang performed two poems on the balmy October evening. The first, an untitled piece about growing up as a minority in Australia and the lengths she went to to fit in. The English and Science teacher, who currently calls Tenant Creek home, concedes, “The poem was an apology to my ancestors. I conformed to something I wasn’t because I wanted to fit in so badly. I didn’t see myself as beautiful because I couldn’t match a Western Standard of beauty”.
The passionate poet waxed on feelings of betrayal at her Chinese roots to fit in with a majority who largely didn’t accept her.
Yang’s second poem titled, Broken System, was the last poem of the night; it inspired a spontaneous standing ovation. It was a polemic against the standardisation of the education system, and its negative impacts on students. The talented poet was introduced to Slam-Poetry only three months ago.
“I feel absolutely incredible, this experience is beyond surreal, and it’s an enormous honour to represent Central Australia. I truly can’t comprehend it right now but I’m excited, happy, and so grateful to be here!” said Joanna after her win.
Word Travels delivered another lesson on how to host an event at the Australian Poetry Slam. This engaging, intimate, hilarious, and democratic evening, hosted by charismatic MC, Miles Merrill, went off without a hitch. Merrill brought the laughs and the moves to the resident DJ who ushered in each of the sixteen poet-wordsmiths to the stage. Nothing was left unsaid at the Opera House on Sunday night!
Coming in second place was Anna McGahan from Queensland, with Thomas Bailey from Tasmania, third. The top five poets slammed it out in the second half of the night for Yang to prove a superior poet amongst very robust competition.
Yang will now tour the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali; the Singapore Writers Festival, and dozens of towns and cities across Australia. The young talent will receive professional mentoring, and her work will be published – a prize worth over $20k.
Word Travels is a not-for-profit arts organisation. They create literary and literacy programs for festivals, private companies, libraries, schools and cultural institutions around the Asia Pacific with a focus on developing performing writers. Word Travels believes that spoken word artists, poets, hip-hop artists, storytellers and monologists can develop an industry equal to that of actors, musicians and writers.
