“I wear the word warrior upon my chest.
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Although I confess beneath this bullet proof vest I am a mess.
I wear the word warrior upon my chest.
I wear the word warrior upon my chest.
I have strived to survive, have had to hustle to stay alive.
Raised myself out of the gutter as a single mum.
Never knowing how I would clothe or feed my son.
Not knowing what we would become.
I wear the word warrior upon my chest.”
These are some of the words of the poem Warrior which saw Janette Hoppe take out first place at the Newcastle heat of the 2017 Australian Poetry Slam on September 21.
“It’s about owning your own space,” Hoppe said.
The Waratah-based poet faced off against 20 other competitors, all keen for a chance to get a shot at the big prize – the ultimate writers' festival tour. It’s an all-expenses paid performance tour to the Byron Writers Festival and the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali.
A diverse range of poets took to the floor to wow the judges.
“There were quite a few older poets,” Hoppe said.
“Usually it’s a bit of a uni thing and I am one of the older poets.
“There were some extremely strong poets. I didn’t think I would win.”
Hoppe only began to perform her own poetry in 2013, although she had been writing since 2000.
“Originally being Maori, women are supposed to not get up and speak in public, especially in front of men,” she said.
“I used to get my friend to perform my poetry, but she could not pronounce a lot of the Maori words.
“I did research and it seems that the patriarchal society only came about after colonisation. The women actually weren’t submissive.”
Hoppe said she gained confidence performing in the Newcastle poetry scene.
“There is lots of good poets, poets who are published internationally,” she said. “It’s a really supportive network.”
She performs regularly at Poetry at the Pub, Wickham, and Word Hurl Anti-Slam at Vinyl Cafe, Newcastle.
Runner up was Michael Robb.