Contents:

Preface

The Judges

Meet the Team

Tournament Bracket

The Poets

Acknowledgements

Preface

We would like to extend our warmest welcome to you for joining us at our inaugural BPS Olympics.

The Bankstown Poetry Slam has garnered much attention for not only being the first poetry slam in Western Sydney, but the largest

regular slam in the country.

From it’s inception, BPS has been commended for meeting a shortfall in the Bankstown Arts scene, and from the first slam in

February 2014, the clicking hasn’t stopped.

Our goal is, and always has been, to facilitate a platform for those whose voices have been quelled to express themselves in a safe

and artistic way.

Tonight is therfore the culmination of three years of experience in event planning, running workshops,compiling anthologies, and

cutting up watermelon.

We are very much indebted to our steering committee (Chris Sulfa, Yasmine Lewis and Hawraa Kash) for working tirelessly to make

this event happen, and for BYDS (Bankstown Youth Development Service) who has nurtured our slam from day one.

The poets you see tonight are a reflection of the talent and vibrancy we see each month, and we are proud to showcase their

poetry under the banner of Bankstown Poetry Slam.

Lots of love,

Ahmad Al Rady and Sara Mansour

Co-Founders and Co-Hosts.

The Judges

Bryan Brown is one of Australia’s best-known actors.

He came to prominence in the early 80’s with the TV mini-series ‘A Town Like Alice’ and the Australian Film ‘Breaker Morant’.

This led to an International career that has spanned four decades and has taken him to filming in some twenty countries including the US, most of Europe, the Caribbean,

Australia, New Zealand and many African countries.

Films include Newsfront, Cocktail, Gorillas in the Mist, Two Hands, The Thorn Birds, Along Came Polly and the soon to be released Blue Dog.

Bryan Brown

Miles Merrill

Born in Chicago, now living in Sydney, For seventeen years Miles Merrill has been the driving force behind spoken-word and performance poetry in Australia.

He has toured with Saul Williams, jammed with Shane Koyczan, hosted an ABC TV Special - Australian Poetry Slam 08', wrote and co-directed a show in Sydney Festival, performed solo at the Sydney Opera House and created the spoken-word festivals: Night Words and

Word Travels’ Story Fest.

Merrill is founder of the national performing writers' program: Australian Poetry Slam Internationally.

The Judges

Judith White is executive director of the members’ organisation, the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales, and author of its history Art Lovers.

She has been a cleaner, translator, book editor and journalist, and reckons she learned more about writing on the subs’ desk of newspapers than in five years at Oxford.

As an immigrant she prizes the richness of Australian English and the many cultural influences that keep it expressive.

Judith White

Jemma Birrell started out in Australian publishing before moving to Paris to become the first Events Director of iconic bookshop Shakespeare and Company and Co-Director of

FestivalandCo literary Festival.

She returned to Australia to take up the role of Artistic Director of Sydney Writers’ Festival, and has directed three Festivals so far, focusing on writing across forms from

books, to music, film and television.

The Festival has also grown its program of events throughout the year and now has an annual children’s festival.

Under Jemma’s artistic direction, the Festival has welcomed illustrious international authors, including Karl Ove Knausgård, Neil Gaiman, Atul Gawande, Irvine Welsh, Alice

Walker, Ben Okri, Vince Gilligan, Sheila Heti and Helen Macdonald.

Jemma Birrell

The Judges

James Arvanitakis

Professor James Arvanitakis is the Dean of the Graduate Research School and the Head of The Academy at the Western Sydney University where he is also a lecturer in the

Humanities and a member of the University’s Institute for Cultural and Society.

James has spearheaded the establishment of The Academy and its founding principles of future proofing education, ethical leadership and the Citizen Scholar program.

His research areas include citizenship, resilience, piracy and the future of universities.

James is a regular media commentator appearing on ABC TV and local radio, and has his own segment on FBI Radio.

Having published over 100 articles and books chapters, in 2015, James will be releasing two new books: a new sociology textbook for Oxford University Press title Sociologic, and

new book on innovative teaching (Palgrave).

In 2012 James was named the Prime Minister’s University Teachers of the Year. In 2013 he was awarded a prestigious Australian Discovery Grant to research Australia’s changing citizenship and in 2015, he was named an Eminent Researcher by the Australian Indian

Education Council.

Meet the TeamAhmad Al-Rady

Ahmad Al Rady is a poet, community leader and social activist.

At just 24 years old, his work has been showcased on the international and national stage including “Speaking of Home" UAE tour, the Woodford Folk Festival, Sydney Writers

Festival and the "Write on the World" Australian inter-state spoken word tour.

Ahmad is the co-founder one of Australia’s largest regular live poetry event – The Bankstown Poetry Slam and founder of the LMA’s Stand Tall, Speak Out!, Australia’s

largest youth spoken word program.

Sara Mansour

Sara Mansour is a fifth year psychology/law student from Western Sydney and is the co-founder of the Bankstown Poetry Slam.

Having performed poetry for the first time in November 2012, she quickly developed a passion for this medium of expression uses it as a platform to convey topical messages to

both her community and the wider Australian community.

Sara joined Mark Gonzales in his Melbourne poetry tour last year and recently performed at Woman Scream International Woman’s Poetry Festival in Sydney.

She has published her work in Bankstown Poetry Slam's first and second poetry anthologies, "The Last Conversation" and "On Second Thought".

Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Yasmine Lewis

Straight outta Bankstown, Yasmine began performing spoken-word in 2013 after being dragged along to Bankstown Poetry Slam by a friend.

Since then, she’s become a state finalist in the national Australian Poetry Slam, toured alongside Mark Gonzales for the Write on the World Series and was one of 5 poets who

mentored students for the Stand Tall, Speak Out! high school competition.

Recently, Yasmine co-directed Real Talk, a spoken-word theatre show, and has worked on various events including 4Elements, MicCheck and Western Sydney U’s Diversity Fest.

She’s also a pending law grad, Glacage addict and cat video enthusiast.

Hawraa Kash

Hawraa quickly became a regular on the Sydney spoken word scene after accidentally discovering it as her passion.

Hawraa’s writing transcends the typical and ventures into the realms of her life’s trials and tribulations, hopes and aspirations in a way regular dialogue can’t.

Other than featuring at Sydney’s regular poetry slams, Hawraa has also had a couple of her pieces published in Bankstown Poetry Slam’s second anthology ‘ On Second

Thought’.

She’s also performed at ARCC’s Agent Orange Day, Side By Side against Racism and Islamaphobia, and has shared the stage with Catherina Behan, Abe Nouk, Jesse John

Brand, DA Carter, MM Dogs, Candy Royalle, Kaveh the unlikely poet, and international UK poet Anthony Anaxagoru.

Meet the Team

Chris is a multifaceted artist who has been performing spoken word poetry and creatively contributing to Bankstown Poetry slam since it’s inception.

Initially his interest in poetry was drawn from countless hip hop artists he admired who spoke about their trials and triumphs over tragedy,

which inspired him to develop the confidence to share his personal experiences with youth homelessness and overcoming tribulations through the cathartic power of poetry.

Aside from performing at BPS he proudly works behind the scenes designing varying forms of creative material both digital and physical including screenprinted T-shirts,

jumpers and posters as Creative director.

He also works alongside Kaveh The Unlikely Poet and the team at Revolute Movement Academy, recently developing an initiative called Lift. Love. Give. with it’s intention to collect unwanted clothing, blankets and food, distributing them out to the homeless

across Sydney’s inner city streets.

Chris Sulfa

Tournament Bracket

The Poets

Mahdia RahmanMahdia Rahman emerged as a spoken word poet at the Bankstown Poetry Slam in 2014

and has since performed and been published multiple times.

She has performed in various poetry slams throughout Sydney and has just recently been

the ‘feature poet’ at Mars Hill Poetry Slam. She has also performed at the 'International

Women's Poetry and Art Festival - Woman Scream" part of UNESCO's "2015

International Year of Light". Writing as ‘Soulful Expressions’, she connects with her audience through her raw and soul splitting performances which explore themes of

migration, displacement, love and loss.

Her poem 'A Thousand Tears Old' was published in the Bankstown Poetry Slam’s 2014 Anthology “On Second Thought.”

Marie McMillanMarie McMillan was born and educated in Dublin but has lived in Sydney for the past 40

years. A retiree, she was a finalist in the NSW Poetry Slam in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Several of her poems and short stories have won minor competitions and/or have been published

in anthologies. A winner of the “So You Wanna be a Writer” Competition at the Sydney Writers’ Festival for her crime fiction novel “The Lost Day”, she’s looking for a publisher.

Marie graduated from University College Dublin with BA and B.Soc.Science degrees and has a Masters in Creative Writing (Golden Kay awardee) from UTS.

A graduate of the London School in Music and Drama, she alleges that her only claim to fame is that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s father signed her graduation parchment.

A former public relations’ executive, she has two children and is awaiting the arrival of a grandchild in 2016.

The Poets

Alex CusleyAlex Cusley is the opposite of Batman: Poor, left wing, sympathetic towards people who

break the law, and played by Matt Damon.

He was born in Sydney and very rarely leaves. After spending years writing and never showing anyone, he finally appeared at Bankstown Poetry Slam in late 2014.

He nervously mumbled and stuttered on stage for three minutes and they haven’t been able to get rid of him since. Sometimes his poems work, sometimes they fail miserably.

But where’s the fun in always succeeding? If you’re not failing a lot then you’re not experimenting enough.

Shalice TiataVery big music enthusiast, wanderer as I am trying to find myself right now as a young

person, going to be studying journalism so I can hopefully make a career out of it.

I love slam, animals make my heart weak, can chuck a phat hack.

Sydrah MustaffaSydrah is an aspiring Development Anthropologist from Malaysia who has recently

completed her postgraduate research degree in the same field.

Seeking escapism through poetry,she made her first performance at the Bankstown Poetry slam earlier this year, and has been participating in several other spoken word

events around Sydney ever since.

The Poets

Sharnay Mkhayber (SHAR-NAY MAC-AY-BAR)Sharnay is an aspiring magistrate.

She hopes to educate everyone on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

You’ll find her reading a book or scribbling gibberish 99% of the time and the other 1% you’ll find her popping and locking in front of any vacant mirror in the house.

She hopes to publish a book one day, so keep an eye out.

Alice TameAlice Tame is a current 1st year uni student studying at the Australian Institute of Music,

about to finish her third trimester of study as a songwriter.

She is an avid reader and writer of all things literary, loves to dwell in fictional worlds as well as live out her own and other real life experiences through the power of creative and

performing arts.

She hopes to one day become as funny as Zack Braff, spend as much time as she can dancing in unexpected places and doing things that make her happy.

Mina IbsMina Ibs fell in love with with spoken word when he attended his first poetry slam and

heard a young woman speak out without fear or discomfort,

He tried performing his first piece and found it to be the most liberating experience.

Most of Mina's pieces have become about social issues and he writes not only to liberate his own thoughts and opinions but also in the hopes of sending out a message to today's

youth in society.

The Poets

Ana PazAna Paz is a Performer, Director and Spoken Word Artist from London UK who recently

graduated from Buckinghamshire New University with a BA in Performing Arts. Ana creates work with an intention to provoke the audiences’ perception of reality and self-

worth through the use of Spoken Word Poetry, Physical Theatre, Dance, and original music.

Ana has devised and directed two theatre pieces in London, ‘August 5th’, revolving around the 2011 London riots and ‘Linhas’, an abstract representation of the conscious

and unconscious thought processes caused by cultural identity.

Amy LynAmy Lyn is a reformed lawyer turned passionate English teacher.

When not agonising over HSC assessments and curriculum, she gets consistently trounced in scrabble by her husband (for whom English is his 2nd language), drinks

copious amounts of Earl Grey tea, faithfully serves her two whippets, co-authors textbooks and (during school holidays) devours books and films with unnatural fervour.

Halee-Isil CosarHalee-Isil Cosar is a Sydney based teacher, poet, spoken word and community artist.

She has been published in journals and anthologies; Australian Poetry Journal, Mascara Literary Review Poetry Without Borders and others.

She runs writing groups for women in Western Sydney, is a regular performer at the Sydney Writer's Festival with Auburn Poets Group and is passionate about collaborative

projects that take poetry outside the page and onto the public platform.

The Poets

DA CarterDA Carter is a musician, lyricist & street performer who’s toured globally & locally

on streets and stages from Berlin to Burning Man to the Sydney Theatre,

National Young Writers, Subsonic, Regrowth, Crack Theatre & Fringe Festivals.

DA performs solo with a microphones & loop machines and fronts a noisy four piece hiphop fusion band called Spectacles.

Troy WongTroy Wong is an English teacher by day and spoken word poet by night.

Since his first performance in November 2013 he has been a regular in the Sydney spoken word circuit. He was a NSW state finalist in the 2014 Australian Poetry Slam and is a state

finalist once again this year.

Other performance credits include feature sets at Newtown Festival, Sydney Fringe Festival, Little Features, Creative Conversations, That Time of the Month, and Three Poets

Speak.

Off stage, he has co-hosted the monthly Mars Hill Slam, and has completed his honours thesis on using spoken word to develop high school students' critical literacy.

Eiman AlUbudyEiman AlUbudy is a Sydney based artist with an Iraqi background.

Eiman migrated to Australia at the age of 2 years. She has graduated with Bachelor of Creative Arts and with a major in Visual Arts, from the University of Wollongong.

She has fallen immensely in love with art and poetry, in which she has utilised the both to express her opinion.

The Poets

Abdul HammoudAbdul Hammoud is a spoken word artist based in Melbourne by way of Lebanon, a

country that he is still captivates by and connects to.

He teached numerous writing classes and workshops for schools and various organizations. His art has taken him as close as New Zealand and as far as the United

States, as well as to his beloved home country.

In 2013, he became founder of The Dirty Thirty online writing platform, an ever-growing group for writers to challenge themselves every April.

He is now also editor and compiler of The Dirty Thirty Anthology, a collection of poetry from the page he coordinates.

Most of his work revolves around current issues including the constant state of war in the Middle East, cultural division, as well as the portrayal of masculinity.

Hani AbdileHani Abdile is a Somali refugee writer.

At the age of 17 Hani escaped the war tearing apart Somalia travelling through Kenya, Malaysia and Indonesia.

She made the voyage to Australia by boat, where she was picked up by the Australian Navy and taken to Christmas Island, where she spent an extended period in detention.

While detained, Hani found solace in writing poetry about the war in Somalia, the crippling effects of detention and the unconquerable human spirit.

She is a lead member of Writing Through Fences and an honorary member of PEN International.

She now runs a monthly poetry event called the Arrivalist to give voice to the people who are behind the fence, encouraging them to find strength in themselves.

Her poems have been published in 'Our Beautiful Voices’ and launched with Mark Time books and Mascara Literary Review.

Hani received Community Leadership, Art and Performance 2015 Refugee Youth Award

with a powerful young voice and compelling story of bravery and compassion though adversity.

The Poets

Iman EtriIman Etri is a student at WSU, majoring in history and political thought.

She recently discovered that her desire to be an activist, requires her, by definition, to be active, and so joined the world of spoken word poetry.

She is an avid pasta eater and smoothie drinker, and enjoys sunshine, volunteering, and uncomfortably long hugs.

Charles LatnoreBorn and raised in South West Sydney, Charles rose from the shadows and graduated

from UNSW with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering.

Now working in IT, Charles enjoys crafting poems and editing videos in his spare time.

Charles has been interested in poetry since primary school and made his debut performance in the August 2015 Bankstown Poetry Slam.

His poetry mainly focuses on helping audiences recognise the "elephants that plague our society" and reassuring them that what "is" is not the end-all be-all.

Mehdi ChithAspiring to be a history professor some day, Mehdi love’s truth, knowledge and the

happiness that he get’s from teaching people is unrivalled.

To educate on the basis of knowledge and worth, and to expand people's perspective is one of his biggest aims.

The Poets

Gloria DemilloGloria Demillo was a NSW finalist for Australian Poetry Slam 2014, and in the same year, her short story won highly-commended fiction for the University of New South Wales' Literary Journal, ‘UNSWeentend,' and her poetry was published in Bankstown Poetry

Slam’s Anthology, ‘On Second Thought’.

Gloria has featured at numerous poetry events throughout Sydney, and has opened for international performance poets such as Mayda del Valle and Candy Royalle.

Gloria also co-runs the Poetry Slam Club at the University of New South Wales.

Gloria is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts, double major in Sociology and Anthropology and Creative Writing.

She enjoys the simple things in life; Haruki Murakami, cacti and Kanye West quotes.

Amirah AminAmirah has worked as a youth worker for the past 8 years, from high schools to prisons,

to the streets.

She mentored countless youth who were rejected by society and deemed “bad kids”, and believes in the art of story telling as a healing and soul-connecting experience.

Her work keeps her grounded, except for when she’s travelling at every opportunity she gets!

She loves hip-hop, reggae and dancehall and dreams about retiring in Jamaica one day.

Despite being a strong introvert and recluse, Amirah performed her first spoken word piece at BPS in Feb 2015 after being possessed by the poetry gods.

Still new to the scene, Amirah has a lot to learn, and is looking forward to sharing more of the chaos that lives in her mind with the world.

The Poets

Rameen HayatRameen began spoken word poetry as a way to pass through the summer break after

high school, but found it to be such a powerful medium to say things which would otherwise be glazed over as mere frustrated thoughts on taboos from misrepresentations

of the migrant community in the media to racism and gender inequality.

Since then she has started an engineering and law degree and in between has been able to perform with Real Talk, a series of youth workshops which led to a performance during

Sydney Writer’s Festival and also being selected for the BPS poetry Olympics this year.

Bilal HafdaBilal is a university student currently completing his Masters in Secondary Teaching and

is on his way to becoming an English and History Teacher, a fact that excites and terrifies him in equal measure. He also works part-time at an optometrist making and repairing

glasses, mostly so that he can boast that he "helps people see".

He attended his first poetry slam last year and was hooked ever since.

He performs at every chance he gets, and, seeing as no one has told him to stop, continues to do so.

Imogen BaileyBirth doula and lover of words.

We are very grateful to our sponsors for making this night happen:

Art Gallery of NSW and the Art Gallery Society,

Bankstown Youth Development Service,

particularly Tim Carroll for his ongoing support,

Arab Bank Australia

The Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue

The Sydney Writer’s Centre

Additionally, we would like to thank:

Miles Merrill, Bryan Brown, Judith White,

Jemma Birrell, James Arvanitakis and Joe Rizk for agreeing to be on our judges panel.

Dallin McGee, our musical act.

Chris Woe for photography.

Daniel Robes for videography

And everyone who has supported

the Bankstown Poetry Slam by attending

this event tonight