Pola Fanous
Pola Fanous (@polathepoet) is a young poet and performing artist from Western Sydney. An Egyptian-born immigrant, at age 20 Pola is a prominent figure in Sydney’s slam scene, & has been featured at the Parramatta Poetry Slam, the Granville Poetry Slam, the Bankstown Poetry Slam & at schools, rallies & conferences state-wide. In 2016, Pola competed in the Poetry Olympics and spoke at the City of Sydney’s Youth Leadership Conference. In 2017, Pola was published in 'The Resurrection' Anthology and performed at the Digital Writers’ Festival, The Plot Music Festival, the BPS Grand Slam and the Parliament House of Australia. His poem 'Mr War (Palestine)' was incorporated into Warren Armstrong and Susannah Williams’ multi-sensory artwork ‘Listening Device VII: Felt Histories’, which went on to be awarded the 2017 Paramor Prize for Art & Innovation. In 2018, Pola began writing for Honi Soit, performed at the Sydney Writer’s Festival and made waves with his now-iconic ‘Westies’. Pola recently competed in the Australian Poetry Slam National Final at the Sydney Opera House and was appointed 2018 NSW Slam Champion! In early 2019 he released his debut collection of poetry, STRONGSOFT.