The Poetry Society’s Slam Championship for 12-18 year olds has now been running for a decade- that’s ten years of exhilarating live events, showcasing of new talent, professional development for contestants, and the involvement of participants across a wide spectrum of faiths, backgrounds and abilities. We continue to aim to involve as many young people as possible in reading, writing, and performing poetry.
Slam is the competitive art of performance poetry before a loud and lively audience. Young people across the UK are invited to enter the Championship by filming themselves performing a poem or rap piece and uploading it to our SlamCam YouTube channel.
SLAMbassadors UK 2011 closed for entries on Saturday 7th January 2012. The 2012 competition will launch later in the year, with a new theme to be announced.
The 2011 theme was identity – who you are, where you have come from, what you see around you and how it affects you and others, cultural identity, national identity, human identity. Click here for ways the theme could be used.
Teachers
You can see our Teachers’ Toolkit here for advice with getting your school involved in Slam.
What can I win?
Six acts will be chosen from across the UK to take part in an intensive, two-day masterclass with the spoken word artist Joelle Taylor. The winners work will be showcased at a live performance in central London in April 2012 and judged by the legendary Dizraeli.
