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A two-time TEDx speaker and award winning poet, Fleassy Malay is an internationally renowned, evocative and powerful spoken word artist, speaker and educator. They are a global advocate for women’s and LGBTQI+ rights and a fierce voice for the power of authenticity and courage as a social change tool.

Fleassy is the founder of Melbourne’s acclaimed NFP organisation and women's spoken word event, Mother Tongue Poetry. They were the winner of the Reciter of the Year at the 2022 National Folk Festival and represented Melbourne at Slamovision in Dublin UNESCO City of Literature in 2025. Fleassy was also on the first slam team to represent Australia in the National Poetry Slam USA in 2017, and was a state finalist at the Australian Poetry Slam 2023.Fleassy has a theatrical and yet deeply authentic performance, writing, and speaking style, renowned for captivating their audiences with depth, honesty, and humour.

Follow Fleassy on

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Fleassy

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/fleassymalay

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⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

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⁠https://ittis.deco-apparel.com/⁠

Megha Rao is a poet from Kerala, India. Her work has been featured on POETRY Magazine, Outlook, BBC Radio, Rollingstone, and more. Since graduating from the University of Nottingham, Megha has put her English Literature degree to good use by building academic modules for international non-profit organizations such as Girl Rising. She has also performed her poetry at NCPA, Spoken Fest etc. and taught workshops at colleges such as VIT and MICA. Her poetry podcast, "Poems to Calm Down To", trended at #1 on Spotify India and stayed on the top podcasts charts for two years. In 2021, Megha released her debut poetry book, "Teething", with HarperCollins India.

Follow Megha on

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/_megharao

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⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

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⁠https://ittis.deco-apparel.com/⁠

Yasiru, aka Yasi is a carpentry apprentice by day, a poet otherwise. Combining his background in social work and this appreciation for music, Yasi is the organiser for Slamtidote, a poetry collective that gathers monthly in Naarm/Melbourne. Yasi dreams of a day where marginalised communities get recognised for their talents, and the art of poetry becomes a household practice.

Tierney Khan is a writer and poet from Naarm/Melbourne. During the day you can find her working at publishing company Allen & Unwin, but by night she is either MC-ing the latest Slamtidote event, performing poetry at a fundraiser or just plain scribbling in her journal at home with her cats. She has worked with titans of the literature industry, including Books + Publishing, The Wheeler Centre, Small Press Network, The Big Issue and more.

Follow Slamtidote on

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/slamtidote

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⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

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⁠https://ittis.deco-apparel.com/⁠

"Get Good" is a poem inspired by failure, both in video games and in life.

Watch this poem with footage from "Demon's Souls":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pqjHplH38E

Follow ITTIS on Instagram:
⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

Check out the I Think, Therefore I Slam Merch Store:
⁠https://ittis.deco-apparel.com/⁠

Sara M. Saleh is an award-winning writer and poet of Palestinian, Egyptian and Lebanese heritage whose work has been widely published and performed from Brooklyn to Bangalore. Her debut novel Songs for the Dead and the Living (Affirm Press, 2023) was shortlisted for major literary awards and co-won the Barbara Jefferis Award, while her poetry collection The Flirtation of Girls / Ghazal el-Banat (UQP, 2023) won the Anne Elder Award and was shortlisted for multiple Australian prizes. She made history as the first poet to win both the Peter Porter Poetry Prize and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize, and has been a recipient of numerous fellowships, residencies and grants. Deeply committed to community, craft, and storytelling, Sara has led workshops in countless classrooms, community spaces, and festivals nationally and internationally.

Follow Sara on

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/instasaranade

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⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

Check out the I Think, Therefore I Slam Merch Store:
⁠https://ittis.deco-apparel.com/⁠

Jaidyn Luke Attard (aka The Street Poet) writes poetry and fiction inspired by his life as a wanderer and self-proclaimed flaneur in Melbourne/Naarm. He sometimes pastes up his typewritten poetry across the city, suburbs, and even interstate, which gained attention in Melbourne during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

In 2021, he co-wrote "There’s a Tale to This City", dropping out of his Masters degree in publishing to dedicate more time to writing about his street encounters. His verse novel, "The Street Poet", was released in 2023. Both of his novels have been republished in 2026.

Tired of the solitude of writing, Jaidyn brought together a small collective of friends known as The Degraves Circle, and self-funded his own ramshackle publishing press, Back Shed Press, so that he and his friends could publish their work alongside one another. His current focus is on publishing zines and poetry by local artists, writing about working-class city life, and spreading his street poetry across Australia.

Follow Jaidyn on

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jaidynpoetry

Order from Back Shed Press:
https://backshedpress.bigcartel.com

Follow ITTIS on Instagram:
⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

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This week we put "Amazeball" under the poetic microscope. Written weeks before a big life decision, it's a reflective piece on the relationship of humanity and the natural world, and why we all have a responsibility to protect the things that matter most to us. Also, STFU billionaires.

Follow ITTIS on Instagram:
⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School

Join the Slam Fam on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and more:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ittis⁠

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⁠https://ittis.deco-apparel.com/⁠

Tariro Mavondo is a Zimbabwean-born, Frankston-raised creative with 15 years in the arts. A multi-award-winning actor, theatre director, and spoken word poet, she advocates for cultural diversity through roles as a former peer assessor for Creative Australia and co-CEO of Western Edge. She founded Africa’s Got Talent Australia and co-founded the Still Waters African Women’s Storytelling Collective.After a two-year global break, she co-directed Maxine Beneba Clarke’s "The Hate Race" at Malthouse Theatre (2024) and served as associate director for "The Audition". Returning to the stage after five years, she performed in "La Belle Epoque" and "St Kilda Tales". Her accolades include an APRA AMCOS award and an ARIA award nomination for "Closed Beginnings" and a John Trustcott Foundation grant. Recently featured at the NGV Afro-Centric Experience and Bankstown Poetry Slam, Tariro is excited to return to Western Edge as Artistic Director, focusing on young people in Melbourne’s West.

Follow Tariro on

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/tariro.mavondo
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/tariro.mavondo/

Find out more about Western Edge:
https://www.instagram.com/wstrnedge

Follow ITTIS on Instagram:
⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ithinkthereforeislam

Find Melbourne spoken word events:
⁠⁠⁠⁠https://melbournepoetry.com/⁠

Podcast art by Doane Stuart School