Omar Musa – May 2015

Omar is a poet and rapper from Queanbeyan. He won the Australian Poetry Slam in 2008 and the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2009. He has released two solo hip hop records (The Massive EP and World Goes to Pieces), two self-published books (The Clocks and Parang) and a self-titled album with international hip hop group MoneyKat. Omar is best known for his political hip hop lyrics and his poems “My Generation”, “Fireflies” and “CAPITAL LETTERS”.

Parang
Penguin Australia, 2014: ISBN 9780143572275
Parang is the second collection of poetry from former Australian Poetry Slam winner Omar Musa. Written over four years, the collection explores Malaysian jungles, dark Australian streets, and dreams. Dealing with the issues of loss, migration and belonging, Parang is an incisive and sometimes raw look at the here and now of a changing world. ‘Parang is as brutal as it is delicate, poems romp between the urban landscape and foreign humidities …I love these poems, they are a clarion call to the listless, to take up the parang, or the pen, the instrument or the book and make something happen. A balm for the conflicted, Musa is a rhapsodist like no other.’ – Tara June Winch, author of Swallow the Air. ‘Never mind page versus stage, this is poetry: listen.’ – Jeet Thayil, author of Narcopolis.

Here Come the Dogs
Penguin Australia, 2014; ISBN 9780670077090
In small town suburbia, three young men are ready to make their mark. Solomon is all charisma, authority and charm, down for the moment but surely not out. His half-brother, Jimmy, bounces along in his wake, underestimated, waiting for his chance to announce himself. Aleks, their childhood friend, loves his mates, his family and his homeland, and would do anything for them. The question is, does he know where to draw the line? Solomon, Jimmy and Aleks: way out on the fringe of Australia, looking for a way in. Hip hop and graffiti give them a voice. Booze, women and violence pass the time while they wait for their chance. Under the oppressive summer sun, their town has turned tinder-dry. All it’ll take is a spark. As the surrounding hills roar with flames, the change storms in. But it’s not what they were waiting for. It never is. (1/3 poem / 2/3 prose)