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 Countrysort descending Active? State/Province City Main Website
Brooklyn Poetry Slam United States Active New York Brooklyn Link
Soap Boxing Poetry Slam United States Inactive Minnesota St Paul Link
Des Moines Poetry Slam United States Active Iowa Des Moines Link
Roc Bottom Poetry Slam United States Active New York Rochester Link
Da Poetry Lounge United States Active California Los Angeles Link
Inkwell Poetry Slam United States Active Texas Arlington Link
Pure Ink Poetry Slam United States Active New York Buffalo Link
Punch Out Poetry Slam United States Inactive Minnesota St. Paul Link
ASL Slam United States Active New York New York Link
Orange City Poetry Slam United States Inactive Iowa Orange City Link
Natty Roots and Rhyme United States Active Texas Arlington Link
Brass Knuckles United States Inactive California Los Angeles Link
Austin NeoSoul United States Active Texas Austin Link
Pulse Poetry Slam United States Active New York Jamestown Link
Kansas City Poetry Slam United States Active Missouri Kansas City Link
The Dirty Gerund United States Active Massachusetts Worcester Link
Boise Poetry Slam United States Active Idaho Boise Link
Unlimited Poetry Slam United States Active Texas Arlington Link
Oakland Poetry Slam United States Active California Oakland Link
Austin Poetry Slam United States Active Texas Austin Link

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