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?sort descending State/Province City Main Website
Chicago Four Star Poetry Club United States Active Illinois Chicago Link
Hamilton Youth Poetry Slam Canada Active Ontario Hamilton Link
Boston Poetry Slam United States Active Massachusetts Cambridge Link
Spokane Poetry Slam United States Active Washington Spokane Link
Flagslam United States Active Arizona Flagstaff Link
Commonwealth Slam United States Active Virginia Fredericksburg Link
The Writer's Den Poetry Slam United States Active Virginia Richmond Link
LionLike MindState United States Active California Upland Link
The People Poetry Slam United States Active Ohio Cleveland Link
Beltway Poetry Slam United States Active District of Columbia Washington Link
Portland Poetry Slam United States Active Oregon Portland Link
Lethal Poetry United States Active Illinois Chicago Link
The Brant Rant Canada Active Ontario Brantford Link
Houston VIP Poetry Slam United States Active Texas Houston Link
Lizard Lounge Poetry Slam Team United States Active Massachusetts Cambridge Link
Throw! Poetry Collective Canada Active Quebec Montreal Link
Urban Spoken Word United States Active Wisconsin Madison Link
MoPoetry Slam United States Active Missouri Springfield Link
Omaha Poetry Slam United States Active Nebraska Omaha
Sit N' Spin United States Active California Sacramento Link

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