Your Local Slam

Slam poets compete against one another, but also collectively as teams. Teams are generally organized around performance venues, their local slam homes. They compete with neighboring teams to hone their skills and sometimes compete in regional team slams for bragging rights. When they feel ready, they might step up to compete in the big top, the annual National Poetry Slam.

P4 has compiled a list of slams from information provided by Poetry Slam, Inc., the Nationals promoter, and from scouring the Internet. The information is searchable by Province or State, and City to help you find a team and its venue near you. P4 tracks all the basic information we can about each slam, but click on the link to the slam's websites for full details. 

A few notes about this list:

  • IMPORTANT:  Note that this listing contains both active and inactive slams.  If you want to search only active slams, be sure to select that option before your search.
  • Try as we might, no list of slam teams or venues can ever be complete or up-to-date. Teams form and dissolve and venues shift from place to place or go out of business, all without notice. 
  • If you see any errors or oversights in this list, please get in touch. We’ll do our best to update our list with your information. Thanks.
  • If you are an organizer with any of these venues, or know of any slams that are now listed here, definitely let us know!
Slam Name Country Active? State/Province Citysort descending Main Website
Fayetteville Word Wars United States Active Arkansas Fayetteville Link
The Marquis Slam United States Active North Carolina Fayetteville Link
Flagslam United States Active Arizona Flagstaff Link
Siren Slam United States Inactive Arizona Flagstaff Link
Fort Worth Poetry Slam United States Inactive Texas Fort Worth Link
Commonwealth Slam United States Active Virginia Fredericksburg Link
The Drunken Retort United States Active Michigan Grand Rapids Link
Mentally Distilled Poetry Slam United States Inactive Michigan Grand Rapids Link
Say What Upstate Poetry Slam United States Active South Carolina Greenville Link
Guelph Poetry Slam Canada Active Ontario Guelph Link
Hammer and Tongue United Kingdom Active Hackney Link
Hali Youth Poetry Slam Canada Active Nova Scotia Halifax Link
Word Iz Bond Canada Inactive Nova Scotia Halifax Link
Poetry for Progress Canada Inactive Nova Scotia Halifax
Hamilton Youth Poetry Slam Canada Active Ontario Hamilton Link
Verbal Slap Poetry Slam United States Active Connecticut Hartford Link
Hawaii Slam United States Active Hawaii Honolulu Link
Wednesday Night Poetry United States Active Arkansas Hot Springs Link
Bayou City Poetry Slam United States Active Texas Houston Link
Houston VIP Poetry Slam United States Active Texas Houston Link

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