Blue Mountains News

Blue Mountains Mayor, Councillor Mark Greenhill said: “After two years of online competition, it’s really exciting to have live events coming back to the Blue Mountains.

“If you haven’t seen a poetry slam live before, I highly recommend it. There's nothing quite like the live experience of a poetry slam.”

This year’s event will be hosted by the incredibly talented, Mel Ree, who will provide a one-night-only performance as well as navigating us through the show so, get set for poetry but not as you know it.

Mel is a passionate performance artist, the daughter of a Papua New Guinean warrior chief, and specialises in acting and poetry embracing the ancient craft of storytelling. Mel strives to connect with young people in meaningful ways, especially those from cultural and linguistically diverse and marginalised communities and believes that our stories, our suffering, and the ways we learn to survive, can become our superpowers.

Mel will wrangle the unpredictable and energetic Slam Heat, delivering a performance artform like no other. ‘Slam Heat’ is a platform for local poets to perform their own, original work before a live audience. They are given two minutes and a microphone and the opportunity to capture the crowd.

The Blue Mountains winner will go onto the State finals and, if successful there, all the way to the Grand Final, which provides prizes and the chance to launch a career in spoken word poetry.

Want to get involved? Spectators are expected to offer enthusiastic audience participation and can choose to assist with judging as well.

Don’t miss this opportunity to catch a unique performer. Join us at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre for a night of unpredictable fun on Thursday 18 August, at 7pm.

Or, if you’re brave enough, arrive at 6.30pm to sign up and perform (first 20 signups only will perform).

The event is FREE and you don't need to book in advance.

Want to know more? Visit the Library website at here