On October 25, the Sydney Opera House hosted the grand final of the Australian Poetry Slam. The 2026 competition brought together 16 poets from across Australia, with contestants from Western Australia to Tasmania, competing to be the 2026 Slam Ambassador.
Each contestant was introduced by the welcoming host, Miles Merrill. The judging was carried out by five judges randomly selected from the crowd. Six poets were eventually picked for the final round.
The finalists representing New South Wales were Robyn Wren (Coffs Harbour) and Blake Mackenzie, a Year 6 student from Tighes Hill Public School (Newcastle) and the youngest finalist.
Robyn draws inspiration from her own life, writing about her experiences with a mix of camp humour and sarcasm while also tackling serious topics in her poems. While her poem for the final was light-hearted, some of her other work explores deeper subjects, including dissociative amnesia, which she has researched to help raise awareness.
At just 12, Blake made it to the final with the help of his teacher. Blake discovered his passion for poetry at school, receiving an A+ for the first poem he had ever written. That one poem changed the way he thought about poetry and opened up a world of possibilities as he dove into creative writing.
Blake made it into the second round and won the Youth Champion Title with his poem about the dangers of ChatGPT and its potentially addictive nature.
After winning the competition, Blake said: “It’s such a dream to be here …” He added jokingly, “To be honest, I never want to see a poem again!”
Blake believes he has a big future ahead of him, as he wants to become a writer. As the youth winner, he shares a prize package worth $20,000 with adult champion Bivor, who won with his poem Politics is Doing You. Originally from Bangladesh, Bivor now lives in Alice Springs, where he works as an environmental consultant.
Representing Tasmania, Chocolate Gulliver, who describes himself as a modern-day independent Indigenous anthropologist, took home third place. Gulliver’s mission at the moment is to bring awareness to his humanitarian work. He uses poetry to bring people together through Humanity’s Outpost, an organisation that helps communities build resilience and understand the essential resources they need.
Bringing together poets of different ages, cultures and backgrounds, the 2026 Australian Poetry Slam celebrated the diversity of voices shaping Australia’s spoken-word community. From a 12-year-old questioning the influence of artificial intelligence to poets exploring identity, culture and community resilience, the competition showed how poetry can connect people across generations and cultures.
