Judged by you, the audience, 16 of the nation’s best wordsmiths grab their moment in the spotlight as they battle for the title “2023 Australian Poetry Slam Champion” and a prize worth $20,000, including publishing opportunities and gigs from Byron to Bali.

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Join us to cheer on spoken word artists from across the state and elect two writers to represent NSW in the Australian Poetry Slam – National Final. Get Gosford gossip. Wollongong longings. Thoughts harboured from Coffs Harbour. Who will you choose? A guy from Guyra? A queen from Queanbeyan? Better run and buy your ticket to decide if our state champs are from Byron.

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First Person Voice Performance is part of an afternoon of First Person Voice events.

First Person Voice – stay for the afternoon or drop-in to individual sessions.

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Textures of Resistance is part of an afternoon of First Person Voice events.

First Person Voice – stay for the afternoon or drop-in to individual sessions.

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The Land is a Ledger is part of an afternoon of First Person Voice events.

First Person Voice – stay for the afternoon or drop-in to individual sessions.

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The Land is a Ledger, Textures of Resistance and First Person Voice Performance.

First Person Voice – stay for the afternoon or drop-in to individual sessions.

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Shout it from the rooftops, Sydney’s best spoken word has arrived! Through months of heats – Mt Druitt to Double Bay, Northern Beaches to Newtown – these wordsmiths are spitting it for the crown of Sydney Slam Champion.

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Five of the best Story Week writers have books that explode their personal worlds onto the page. Part reading, part performance and all passion.

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Bring your lines to life in this family day hybrid illustration and poetry workshop. Whether you have an eye for colour or an ear for alliteration, bring your kin’s creative powers together.

Part of Kid’s Story Day – Stay for the day or drop-in to individual sessions. Kid's Story Day is a Service NSW Creative Kids approved activity.

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So you have a little bag of words from your workshop, or maybe some pages you dug from under your dirty socks at home. Gather them, it’s time to bring out your dreams. Take the stage and star in your own poetry slam made just for kids.

Part of Kid’s Story Day – Stay for the day or drop-in to individual sessions. Kid's Story Day is a Service NSW Creative Kids approved activity.

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Everybody’s got one. Bubbling away inside our heads are adventures ready to share. It’s time to let your story, your poem or lyrics…whatever you do with words – out. Learn to create stories with two incredible writers who specialise in live performance.

Part of Kid’s Story Day – Stay for the day or drop-in to individual sessions. Kid's Story Day is a Service NSW Creative Kids approved activity.

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Harry Hyena is the king of pranks. When they work they’re "Hy-larious", when they don’t… watch out! Nazeem Hussain takes us for a wild ride 396 km from home; reading from his new Hy-larious Hyena book Get Lost!

Part of Kid’s Story Day – Stay for the day or drop-in to individual sessions. Kid's Story Day is a Service NSW Creative Kids approved activity.

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Kids are great storytellers with powerful imaginations. Word Travels opens a box of inspiring activities for kids including workshops on how to illustrate your words, tell awesome tales and slam your own poetry.

Kid’s Story Day – Stay for the day or drop-in to individual sessions. Kid's Story Day is a Service NSW Creative Kids approved activity.

KID'S STORY DAY – ALL DAY PASS

You know a poet would kill it going freestyle head to head with AI right? This is the first live test of poets and storytellers against the near-infinite repository of repartee Chat GPT has in its cloudy notebook.

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2023 Story Week Ambassador, Nazeem Hussain chats with Word Travels Director, Miles Merrill. Comedians, lyricists, poets and other performing writers face the public with their own ideas. Actors perform someone else’s scripts.

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Writers have finally gotten what they’ve wanted – solitude. What does WFH feel like for creatives with a social bent? What’s working, what’s not and what’s the mental health status of all this alone/screen time?

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For the Love of Words – FLoW curates a rich tapestry of voices: each one unique, each one a reflection of a different facet of human experience. Through poetry, music, and storytelling, FLoW celebrates the beauty of diversity, weaving together narratives that span cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives.

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You need to hold your place in line. Let your electric company know they’ve made a mistake for the 10th time. You come up against a policy that is discriminatory. Do you shout down the line? Is the loudest person the one who gets heard?

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We all have our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. We’re trained to hide them. Tonight we invite six people with powerful stories to let us into their foibles, their – “I’m just bloody human, mate.” – minor catastrophes.

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You choose a moment to write about. You read it out and the tears start flowing. Is this healthy and cathartic? Is it too public? What are absolute trigger topics? If we’re giving warnings at readings, should we be giving trigger warnings for TV shows, plays, books?

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Got a story or a poem sitting in the back of your throat? Push it to the tip of your mother tongue. In this open mic, we invite people to share their creative writing in languages other than English.

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Books contain a multitude of voices none of them are necessarily the author. Three performing writers discuss characters' voices, dialogue and the pitfalls of cultural appropriation.

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