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/Provincesort descending City Main Website
Untitled Open Mic United States Active Massachusetts Lowell Link
The Dirty Gerund United States Active Massachusetts Worcester Link
Hampshire College Slam Collective United States Inactive Massachusetts Amherst Link
The House Slam United States Active Massachusetts Boston Link
Night Slam United States Active Massachusetts Brockton Link
Witch City Poetry Slam United States Active Massachusetts Salem Link
Boston Poetry Slam United States Active Massachusetts Cambridge Link
Lizard Lounge Poetry Slam Team United States Active Massachusetts Cambridge Link
Mill City Slam United States Active Massachusetts Lowell Link
Mentally Distilled Poetry Slam United States Inactive Michigan Grand Rapids Link
The Ann Arbor Poetry Slam United States Active Michigan Ann Arbor Link
Fresh Water Wordsmiths United States Active Michigan Detroit Link
Urban Echo Poetry Slam United States Inactive Michigan Detroit Link
Kalamazoo Poetry Slam United States Inactive Michigan Kalamazoo Link
The Drunken Retort United States Active Michigan Grand Rapids Link
SlamMN! United States Active Minnesota Minneapolis Link
Soap Boxing Poetry Slam United States Inactive Minnesota St Paul Link
Punch Out Poetry Slam United States Inactive Minnesota St. Paul Link
Button Poetry Live United States Active Minnesota St Paul Link
Art, Poetry, and Justice Slam United States Active Mississippi Jackson Link

Pages