The Bankstown Poetry Slam is the largest regular

poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word, spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. Poetry slams began in Chicago in the 1980s, with the first slam competition designed to move poetry rec ...

in Australia that has been drawing increasingly diverse audiences from around

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

since it started in

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...

in 2013. BPS has become a literary institution in western Sydney with 200-300 people regularly attending their volunteer-run monthly slams at the Bankstown Arts Centre.

History

The Bankstown Poetry Slam (BPS) was founded in 2013 by

Sara Mansour Sara Mansour is an Australian lawyer, writer, poet, and founder/artistic director of the Bankstown Poetry Slam. The Bankstown Poetry Slam is the largest regular Poetry Slam in Australia which offers an artistic outlet for the young people of We ...

and Ahmad Al Rady, and held in the southwest Sydney suburb of

. Since its inception, the poetry slam has featured notable poets such as

Omar Musa Omar bin Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, poet, rapper, and visual artist from Queanbeyan, New South Wales. He has released four hip hop records, four books of poetry, and the novel ''Here Come the Dogs'', which was long-listed for the Mil ...

, Luka Lesson
Jazz Money

Rupi Kaur Rupi Kaur (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਰੂਪੀ ਕੌਰ; born 4 October 1992) is an Indian people, Indian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, Kaur immigrated to Canada at a young age with her f ...

and Rudy Francisco. It has held grand slams at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Town Hall, and The Sydney ICC. The Bankstown Poetry Slam is currently run by

, Bilal Hafda, and Yasmine Lewis. In 2018, security guards were hired for the event after comments from Australian politician

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (; born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

incited online threats and abuse against attendees. In 2022, BPS organised the Brave New Word Poetry Festival, bringing poetry to nine suburbs across western Sydney. More than 50 participants had the opportunity to workshop poems with prominent international spoken word artists. At their annual Grand Slam in 2024, BPS hosted Plestia Alaqad, a Palestinian journalist who rose to social media fame from their footage of the devastation of their home city during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Many of the event guests and performers were wearing Palestinian kheffiye in solidarity with Alaqad. Writer and lawyer Sara M Saleh was one of the judges and the winning acts (ARAB, AI, and Halal Collab) shared a prize of $8,000 AUD between them.

Awards and recognition

* In May 2023, BPS won the 'Special Award' (and with it $10,000) at the Premier's Literary Award ceremony. Mansour, Hafda, and Lewis were all present to accept the award.

References

External links

*{{official, http://www.bankstownpoetryslam.com/ 2013 establishments in Australia Recurring events established in 2013 Bankstown, New South Wales Poetry slams Annual events in Australia