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Home > View & Discuss > 2015 Australian Poetry Slam state final

2015 Australian Poetry Slam state final

  • Date recorded: 11 Sep 2015

  • Duration: 04:03

'Hopelessness comes from the inability to express yourself, so can you imagine how hopeless I felt when I didn't know how to read or write?'

– Abe Nouk

About this video

Following a hotly contested series of heats in Melbourne and regional centres, 10 poets battled it out in the state final of the 2015 Australian Poetry Slam, held at the Library on Friday 11 September.

Hear the winning poem by Abe Nouk, whose moving spoken word piece about literacy was judged by a panel randomly selected from the audience. Abe also won the Poetry Slam state final in 2013, and came third in the national final.

The video begins with runner up Ed Carlyon, presenting his hip-hop-inspired observations on life.

You can also watch the 2014 Victorian state final winner, Brendan Reed Dennis.