Arantza Garcia from Norwood, SA has been
crowned the 2025 Australian Poetry Slam
Champion, following a sold-out National Final at
the Sydney Opera House on Sunday 26
October.
Performing to an electric crowd, Garcia’s
first-round poem, Nine Suitcases and a Pram,
reflected on her family’s migration from Peru to
Australia, earning her a place among the top five finalists.
In the final round, she delivered An Ode to Her, a
stirring piece that explored the strength and versatility of
femininity, reclaiming and redefining it through the
examples of her friends, family and tías. The performance
drew raucous applause and saw her claim the night’s top
honour..
Miles Merrill, Creative Director of
Word Travels said: ‘The Australian Poetry Slam is a
barometer for the voice of the country; after five months of
heats and workshops across Australia, we’ve truly
connected with so many communities. I’m so pleased for
Arantza’s win, and am excited to see what she does over
the next year as the 2025 Australian Poetry
Slam-Bassador.’
‘This year’s poets didn’t reach
for spectacle; they reached inward. They explored memory,
identity and place with honesty and courage, which is
exactly what this year’s theme Grow Deeper is
about. Every voice on that stage pushed us to feel more, to
listen more, and to connect more deeply.’
Now in its
21st year, the Australian Poetry Slam is a nationwide search
for the country’s most compelling spoken-word artists.
Thousands of poets took to the mic at local heats and state
finals across 50 towns and cities, culminating in a line-up
of 16 national finalists at the Sydney Opera House. The 2025
season brought together diverse perspectives and powerful
new voices, reaffirming the slam’s role as a stage for
bold, authentic storytelling.
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As this year’s
champion, Arantza Garcia will tour her spoken word around
the globe, with appearances at Ubud Writers & Readers
Festival, Mumbai LitFest, Singapore Writers Festival and
Byron Writers Festival, alongside publications and mentoring
opportunities valued at approximately $20,000.
The
Australian Poetry Slam National Final closed out
Story Week 2025: Grow Deeper, a ten-day
celebration of storytelling that invited audiences to slow
down and connect through words and shared experience. Across
Sydney and the Blue Mountains, poets and audiences came
together in cafés, theatres and community halls to
rediscover storytelling as a way of understanding ourselves
and each other.
Story Week 2025 was presented in
partnership with the brand-new Caption by Hyatt
Central Sydney, where events took place in the
hotel’s vibrant social hub, Talk Shop –
a café, bar and lounge designed for connection and
creativity.
For more information about the Australian
Poetry Slam and Word Travels, visit: wordtravels.info
