Listen to the Grand Slam Final of the Australian Poetry Slam 2008 broadcast nationally on ABC Local Radio webcast live across Australia via the internet, on Thursday December 4. The webcast starts at 6.30pm to introduce the finalists before crossing to the Sydney Opera House at 7pm hosted by Andrew Daddo, presenter of 702 ABC Sydney Evenings. Poets compete for $5,000 and the title of Australian Poetry Slam Champion. The night is the culmination of a three month search for Australia's best poetry slammers, consisting of state winners, plus the ABC Local Radio online winner. The online winner 'Butterfly', submitted by Elise Batchelor from Karratha (WA), was selected from 77 entries by judges: Alicia Sometimes (poet, writer, musician); Dr Wendy Were (Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Sydney Writers Festival); and Miles Merrill, the Australian Poetry Slam co-creator. Alicia Sometimes said of the winning entry: "It was the performer's succinct and powerful images within the piece that won me over. It was so well written." She describes the quality of the overall entries as having a "great freshness and some pieces had shining lines like 'our early night weezes in the rain' and 'Detox is the new Club Med'. The Australian Poetry Slam 2008, now in its second year, is organised by State Libraries and supported by ABC Local Radio. For more details about the Australian Poetry Slam 2008 or to view the online entries go to abc.net.au/poetryslam.

The 2009 Interactive Press (IP) Picks Awards for Unpublished Manuscripts are open for submissions until 1 December. Now in its eighth year, this national competition invites submissions for Best Fiction, Best Creative Non-fiction, Best Poetry and Best First Book. The Awards are open to citizens/residents of Australia, and, for the first time, citizens/residents of New Zealand. The winners in each category and two of the Highly Commended entrants are being published by IP under royalty contracts. One of the winners and one of the highly commended were subsequently endorsed by the Literature Board of the Australia Council. The winner for Best Poetry 2007 was Mark O'Flynn for his work What can be Proven. For entry forms and conditions visit the website www.ipoz.biz or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to IP, Treetop Studio, 9 Kuhler Court, Carindale 4152.

Cutwater is an upcoming literary anthology that will collect the best in Australian writing from new and emerging authors. With the assistance of an Australia Council Write In Your Face grant, Cutwater is currently seeking work from around the nation - fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry, zines, comics and anything in between - to be published in glorious book form in 2009. The theme of Cutwater's inaugural volume is 'Ratbags'. Writers are invited to send up to three submissions of 5,000 words or less, via post only by 30 November, to: Cutwater Literary Journal PO BOX 52 Toukley NSW 2263 For more details on submissions go to the blog at: http://www.cutwaterjournal.blogspot.com/ Let out the inner ratbag.

Did you know Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC's) participates in Local Stages, a Performing Arts Development Program introduced by federal, state and local government to support the growth of regional theatre-making? It offers local performing artists creative advice, support, and development opportunities, and engages professional outside artists to help develop strengths within the community's local talent. From Local Stages has come Cabaret Kite, BMEC's regular cabaret, which showcases local talent, and plays to sold-out houses. It has been described as "the best night out, for the price, in the world"! Find out about Caberet Kite or come along to the next Soiree to be held on Wednesday 10 December at 7pm in the Wattle Foyer at BMEC. Try out an act, sing a song, recite a poem – get on stage. There is no entry fee. The Local Stages program, which continues to expand, is supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Arts NSW, and Bathurst Regional Council. To find out more about Cabaret Kite and Soirees contact Local Stages Creative Producer Kylie Shead on 6333 6144 and check out www.bmec.com.au

Seriously fun that is. Poets on Wheels Mark O'Flynn, David Brooks and Marvis Sofield ham it up for the camera while they were in Orange after a marathon effort taking different sets of wheels - train, coach and hire car to arrive for the Public Poetry Reading and Wine Tasting with Rolling Wines event organised by the Poets Union, and supported by Arts NSW and the Central West Writers' Centre. Poetry workshop participants also learnt poetry has no rules and is more than words: it is music to the ears, about telling a story and visual like a painting. Congratulations to Dulcie Mclean who won the Poets Union award at the Public Poetry Reading and to all the performing poets who bravely read their works to an appreciative audience. Dulcie is pictured with poet Mark O'Flynn.

Budding poets can upload a two minute poetry slam video and compete for a wild card entry into the Poetry Slam National Grand Slam Final. The Grand Slam will be held at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, 4 December and the online winner will compete alongside state winners for a chance of the $5,000 prizemoney. Anyone outside Sydney will be flown to the NSW capital and provided with accommodation. ABC Local Radio has joined forces with State Libraries to bring the Australian Poetry to all Australians. There is now a dedicated online Poetry Slam destination: abc.net.au/poetryslam. For the first time ABC Local Radio will broadcast and stream all State finals, plus the Grand Slam Final. The dedicated website will include video of slam performances from heats and finals as well as the video entries in the online competition. Visitors will have the opportunity to join in forum discussion and comment on poet works. The online competition closes on Sunday November 16. Online entries will be judged by some of Australia's leading writing professionals, including spoken word artist Miles Merrill, poet Alicia Sometimes and Sydney Writers' Festival Artistic Director Dr Wendy Were. For more details about the Australian Poetry Slam and to find out what is on the mind of poets and performers go to abc.net.au/poetryslam.

Poets on Wheels climb aboard the train to tour regional NSW soon. When they arrive in Orange you can hear three accomplished poets David Brooks, Mark O'Flynn and Marvis Sofield read their own work, quiz the writers, read your own poem in the open section, with prizes awarded for the best local poems, while enjoying wine tasting with Rolling Wines and bring a gold coin donation. It all happens during a wine tasting and poetry reading to be held at Orange City Library on Tuesday 21 October at 6.30pm. The next day join in a poetry workshop for adults from 12pm to 3pm with the Poets on Wheels at the West Room, Orange Regional Gallery, Byng Street. It will be a lot of fun and inspiring to learn from published poets. Cost is $10 and bring along ten copies of one of your poems plus pen and paper. Please book your place by calling the Central West Writers' Centre on 6393 8125.

Congratulations to the winners of the Australian Poetry Slam 08 heat held in Orange on Thursday night: Shannon Elliott, of Canowindra, with his energetic rap called "Self Acceptance" – about life and Josh Simpson, of Bathurst, with a moving poem about poetry. They have each won Sydney flights and accommodation sponsored by The Orange Regional Arts Foundation to be able to perform at the State Final to be held at the State Library of NSW on Friday 21 November at 6.30pm. The NSW winner and runner-up take home $500 and $100 in prize money respectively and compete for the Australian Poetry Slam 08 title and $5,000 at the National Grand Slam in Sydney on 4 December. It was a great night of theatre sports style entertainment and thank you to everyone who joined in the fun. Here are the winners with host Miles Merrill (centre), Shannon on the left and Josh is on the right.

WooHoo!!!! Congratulations to Orange writer, artist and poet Angela Malone (author of Lucia's Measure) who has won the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize at Tasmanian Living Writers' Week for her work Drawing in the Birth Room. The Prize was created in 1996 in memory of the much loved Tasmanian poet whose work was highly acclaimed throughout Australia. Judges Dr Robyn Rowland and John Foulcher described the poem as "simple, unpretentious and without a stumble or jarring word. "It is a poem that could not be bypassed. There is a deep loveliness in it as it draws the line of a birth into the lines of a life. The idea that the child was drawing before birth, the places and experiences that the mother was living, is woven back into itself, as, three years later, the child draws her watery first landscape. The miracle of life unfolding is shown, not said, and the love that emanates from it is powerful." They said the poems they were looking for needed to leave the reader changed in some way – emotionally, intellectually or ideally both. A total of 250 poems were sent in to the competition with the final shortlist of 25 clearly publishable work. For the complete judges report go to the Island magazine website: http://www.islandmag.com/ Three Highly Commended poets were Mike Ladd (SA) for Bedroom Ceiling Fan, Kristen Lang (Tas) for Good Nighting the Mirror and Joan Kerr (Vic) for Retrospective. Read more about Angela's inspiration in the Central Western Daily: http://orange.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/angela-shows-she-has-the-write-stuff/1260401.aspx

The Australian Poetry Slam 08 returns to Orange after being a wild tonque twisting, word flinging success for performers and audience alike last year. Host Miles Merrill returns for two heats in the Central West.

Macquarie Regional Library, Dubbo Saturday 13 September at 2.30pm

Orange City Library, Orange Thursday 18 September at 6.30pm.

We are looking for poets, hip hop artists, storytellers and other outspoken wordsmiths to speak, scream, howl or whisper or sing your original poem, rhyme, rap or story. Performers can sign up from 30 mins before the start and have 2 minutes at the microphone to impress the judges. Be in the audience to have a chance of picked as a judge (the trick is to catch the frisbee). It is an electric live event and entertainment plus. Two winners from the Orange heat will win Sydney flights and accommodation courtesy of Orange Regional Arts Foundation to be able to attend the State Final at the State Library of NSW on Friday 21 November. Come along or be part of it. For more information call the Central West Writers' Centre on 6393 8125 or go to State Library of NSW website http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/poetryslam/index.html

See you at the Poetry Slam - can't wait!