Word: Rise of the Slam Poets, The (ATOM Study Guide)

The Word – Rise of the Slam Poets is a six-part web series about contemporary Australian slam poetry, featuring leading young poets from diverse cultural backgrounds. Blending documentary, art and video poetry, this series paints a powerful portrait of multicultural Australia from a generation that has rediscovered the power of the spoken word.

Over the past decade, slam poetry has exploded across Australia. The Word: Rise of the Slam Poets is a bold new series fusing art, poetry and factual entertainment in a format that introduces the thriving contemporary slam culture to a television audience. Crossing from spoken word to freestyle rap, video blogging, political satire and the rise of competitive poetry slams, the series features some of the most prolific and successful poets in the Australian contemporary spoken word scene.

The poems selected in the series include challenging messages about racism, refugee rights, environmental issues and indigenous rights. Together they reflect the rising multicultural voice of contemporary Australia. The Word: Rise of the Slam Poets shows that the power of poetry is universal and timeless, allowing individuals to speak their own truth, whoever they are.

Each episode of The Word: Rise of the Slam Poets includes a portrait of the featured poet, and an original short film interpreting one of their poems.

Curriculum links

The Word: Rise of the Slam Poets is suitable viewing for secondary students in Years 7–12 in English, Literature and Drama. The series is also a valuable resource for cross-curriculum literacy projects.