Luka Lesson is a writer who crosses the perceived boundaries between hip-hop, poetry and music seamlessly.
After winning the Melbourne Overload Poetry Festival SLAM Final in 2010, Luka Lesson became only the second Australian to travel to the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals (iWPS) in the USA where he placed 19th out of a field of 73 performers. While in the US, Luka also performed a full feature at the world famous Nuyorican Poets’ Cafe in New York City, where he received a standing ovation and critical acclaim.
Luka Lesson’s first book ‘The Confluence’ will be released this year by Australian Scholarly Publishing (ASP) with an accompanying recorded album of his work.
Luka is currently the Melbourne City Library Poet in residence, and the co-founder and co-director of ‘The Centre for Poetics and Justice’ an organisation focussed on the betterment of society through engagement of the poetic arts. This is Luka’s greatest passion; the use of words for community engagement and development. And stems from years of experience in Indigenous, Islander, African and other recently migrated or colonised communities in Australia conducting hip-hop or poetry workshops based on positive community development and change.
Luka Lesson is a graduate of the University of Queensland and Monash University where he received first class honors in Indigenous Studies in 2006. Luka has also lectured in Indigenous Studies at Monash University and is currently completing his Masters in Sound Design at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Luka’s poetic and musical work spans a wide range of topics as he is influenced by the full spectrum of his life experience; from love and heart-break, to the subversion of colonial regimes and the history of his own Greek-Australian ancestry.
Luka Lesson is the real deal. With grounded politics, hands-on experience and poetic insight that reaches far beyond his years. It is not surprising he is also regarded as one of the best performers and well-loved writers of poetic work – whether poetry or hip-hop – in the country.
A to Z by Luka Lesson from Jeremy Beasley on Vimeo.