Solid Air - Australian and New Zealand Spoken Word

Solid Air showcases the work of more than 100 performance poets, combining elements of slam, hip-hop & experimental performance poetry.  

Editors David Stavanger & Anne-Marie Te Whiu discuss Solid Air, the state and rise of spoken word in Australia and New Zealand, its central role in increasing poetry's popularity & audiences worldwide, the changing face of contemporary poetry, and the important platform it provides for diverse and First Nation voices, with contributing authors Michelle Law, Hani Abdile & Hadley.   

Solid Air showcases the work of more than 100 performance poets, combining elements of slam, hip-hop & experimental  performance poetry. Michelle Law, Hani Abdile & Hadley join editors David Stavanger & Anne-Marie Te Whiu to discuss Solid Air & the rise of spoken word!  

 

About the Book

Over the past decade, Spoken Word has established itself as a central part of contemporary Australian & New Zealand poetry. For the first time ever, these voices are transported from the stage to the page, captured in print so that the spoken-word experience can be shared with a new and broader audience.

Solid Air showcases the work of more than 100 performance poets – combining elements of slam, hip-hop and experimental performance poetry – to deliver an unforgettable reading experience that is both literary and loud. Poems capture themes of modern culture, identity and resistance.

Contributors include: Ali Cobby Eckermann, Omar Musa, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Taika  Waititi, Quan (Regurgitator), Claire G. Coleman, Tayi Tibble, Hera Lindsay Bird, Behrouz Boochani, Luka Lesson, Steven Oliver, PiO, Candy Royalle, Michelle Law, Courtney Barnett, Quinn Eades, Selina Tusitala Marsh and many more. 

About the Panelists

Michelle Law is a writer working across film, theatre and print. Her work includes the hit play Single Asian Female, and the SBS web series Homecoming Queens, which she co-created, co-wrote and starred in. 

Hani Abdile is a writer, student and spoken word poet based in Sydney Gadigal of the Eora Nation. . After spending accountable months in immigration detention, she found healing in writing poetry. As the years pass she was introduced into Sydney poetry scene and day by day her love for poetry has accelerate. She writes for human rights, freedom, dignity and sometimes failing in love. She is Honoray member of PEN International, lead member of Writing Through Fences. She received numerous awards for her community work and creative art. Hani, performed around Sydney and into state. Her first book I will Rise published by Writing through Fence, with power of our voices we can shape the world to be better place for the next generation.   

Hadley is a crime writer, poet and bookseller from Canberra/Brisbane/Sydney. He has performed his work at The Cloncurry Merry Muster and Rodeo, The Sydney Opera House, The Queensland Poetry Festival, and the Alice Springs Writers Festival, where a leather daddy nearly choked him to death with a fistful of Pavlova.   

About the Editors and Event Moderators

David Stavanger is a poet, performer, editor, cultural producer and lapsed psychologist. David was was at the forefront of founding poetry slam in Australia and is Co-Editor of Solid Air: Australian & New Zealand Spoken Word (UQP). Also known as Green Room-nominated spoken word artist Ghostboy, these days he lives between the stage and the page.  

Anne-Marie Te Whiu is a cultural producer, theatre practitioner, emerging poet & weaver. She co-directed QLD Poetry Festival 2015-2017, is Co-Editor of Verity La's 'Slot Machine' & 'Discoursing Diaspora' streams and Solid Air: Australian & New Zealand Spoken Word (UQP). Born and raised in Brisbane, she is a proud descendant of the Te Rarawa tribe in Northland, Aotearoa.