Australian Poetry Slam Champion is ……

ABC Radio news reports hip hop artist and poet Omar Musa from Queanbeyan has won this year's Australian Poetry Slam competition, held at Sydney Opera House last night. Poetry slam is a style of performed poetry which takes its influences from rap and hip hop. After the 18 state and territory finalists performed on topics such as going to the dentist and football, there was a tie between Omar Musa from Queanbeyan, south-east of Canberra, and Mark Lloyd from Western Australia. Mr Musa ultimately won the $5,000 prize. More than 600 people entered this year's competition, many with political themes such as the global financial crisis, war and women's rights. Regina Sutton from the State Library says there has been a resurgence of interest in poetry. “People are not only using their libraries more, reading more, they are really getting into poetry and great literature,” she said. Read more about Poetry Slam contestants http://www.abc.net.au/local/features/poetryslam/default.htm