February 2015 - Toby Newberry
Toby Newberry has a long-standing crush on Taylor Swift. He wasn't sure what to write for this, so decided to read what other people wrote, y'know, for inspiration. He is still unsure of what to write, but now has a crush on Ruth Field. None of this is especially relevant to his poetry, except in the case of this one poem composed largely of T. Swift lyrics.
Most of the poetry Toby performs was written in 2014, during a period of (vaguely pretentious) artistic seclusion in Golden Bay. Occasionally, his poetry reflects the glorious natural environment where it was composed. As a rule, however, it doesn't. Don't get your hopes up. His poetry has been called "a delicate cocktail of romance, insecurity, shameless soap-boxing, questionable rhyme, and bush-league puns." By him. Just now. Also, he was once involved in a low-budget rap video.
Most of the poetry Toby performs was written in 2014, during a period of (vaguely pretentious) artistic seclusion in Golden Bay. Occasionally, his poetry reflects the glorious natural environment where it was composed. As a rule, however, it doesn't. Don't get your hopes up. His poetry has been called "a delicate cocktail of romance, insecurity, shameless soap-boxing, questionable rhyme, and bush-league puns." By him. Just now. Also, he was once involved in a low-budget rap video.
March 2015 - Michael Moore
Based in Hamilton, Michael was the runner up at the 2013 National Poetry slam and is a fierce poetry competitor.
April 2015 - Redwood Reider
Redwood Reider will be collaborating with musician Daniel C to take you on an intimate, transformational journey of the soul. Redwood is a seasoned performer, and represented Nelson in the 2013 National Poetry Slam finals.
May 2015 - Jess Holly Bates
Jess Holly Bates is a Pakeha performer, writer, artist and theatremaker with a will to make work that is articulate, human and necessary. Returning from a tour of London and Edinburgh Fringe with her solo spoken word show ‘Real Fake White Dirt’, she has since published the text as an acclaimed book of poetry and performed a sell-out season at the NZ Fringe. In 2016 Jess also began working with the ground-breaking Blackbird Ensemble and challenged audiences with her talk at TEDxAuckland. She likes celery, foolishness and people.
June 2015 - Ben Brown
Ben Brown is an award winning children’s author, poet, short story/non-fiction/freelance writer, though he has never quite been able to work out what the various distinctions are, so he refers to himself primarily as a writer, yet he does display an occasional propensity toward performance poetry probably as a result of an overt desire to appreciate the sound of his own voice in the hope that others may share his apparent enthusiasm for it. He has performed throughout New Zealand and his work has been published around the world. Ben lives and works in Lyttelton.
July 2015 - David Merritt
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David is a poet from the back of beyond who creates poetry books from the detritus of established books, recycling them, adding his own poetics and saving them from the landfill. He is the man behind the David Merritt Poetry Experience.
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August 2015 - Carrie Rudzinski
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Named Best Female Poet at her first national poetry competition in 2008, Carrie Rudzinski has since performed her work across the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and India. Ranked 4th in the world at the 2014 Women of the World Poetry Slam and 7th at the 2013 Individual World Poetry Slam, Carrie has represented Boston, Denver, and Los Angeles over the course of 11 national poetry competitions. In 2014, she taught Poetry and Performance at California State University Northridge in Los Angeles, California. Her work has appeared in The Legendary, Muzzle, Words Dance, OnMag, Catalyst, Alight, and University of California Press and she has published four collections of poems.
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September 2015 - Ben Stokes
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Ben Stokes is New Zealand's 2014 National Slam Poetry Champion.
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October 2015 - Tourettes
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Under the moniker of Tourettes, Dominic has released four critically acclaimed studio albums. In a former life, he was an MC battle- and slam-poetry champion. His writing has been published in everything from Vice (international) to New Zealand's leading literary journal, Landfall. He has has performed his spoken-word poetry in Australia, Europe, England, Japan, and America. He's shared stages with the likes of Homebrew and Sam Hunt and his first novel, Iceland, is due for release later this year through Steele Roberts.
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November 2015 - Team Wellington
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The top three finalists in the Wellington Regional Final 2015 were Michael Howard, Olivia Hall & Jessie Fenton.
Representing Wellington at the National Poetry Slam Final, this is Team Wellington. |
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