I won the first Poetry Slam for the season at Café Hängmattan in Gothenburg!
And the prize was a hat.
Or rather what was in the hat. The audience were asked to contribute with money, love and other items. Apart from some notes and coins I also got two condoms, a box of throat pastilles, matches, a piece of a keyring, a business card, a poetry book, a flowery pin and blister plasters. Very useful. Thank you!
In Sweden the slam scene is very much focused on the National Championships that takes place in May every year. But if you live in a big or biggish city it's not enough to win a single Poetry Slam to reach the Nationals. Winning last night means that I've qualified for the autumn final and if I do well in the autumn final I'll get through to the annual final and if I'm lucky then, I'll secure a place at the Nationals.
I thought that living in Sweden for a while would mean the end of performance poetry for me as I was so used to my English poetry persona Lou Ice and her material in English. But writing in Swedish and doing something different has been good for me, even though I miss the UK scene and all my poetry pals in Brighton. I can only take my off to you for keeping up the love and the words through cyberspace.
PÅ SVENSKA
