After two fabulous heats, the final of the 2026 Summer Slam showcased the talents of the 10 finalists in front of a packed and enthusiastic audience at the State Library of South Australia. The poetry was diverse in style and content, the scores were very close, but in the end, first place went to Sidarth Nambiar with runner-up Ben Adams… ... Read more ...
Saturday 7 February 2026
Doors open at 6:30pm
State Library of South Australia
cnr North Tce and Kintore Ave, Adelaide, SA 5000
$15 at the door or via trybooking
Click here for tickets
The SWSA Summer Slam came back in style for 2026 and here is the final!
The five top-scoring poets from each of the two heats will battle it out in the Summer Slam Final on the stage at the State Library of South Australia.
As always, there is a maximum of 2 minutes for each contestant, who will need to have … ... Read more ...
Heat 2 of the 2026 SWSA Summer Slam maintained the hot poetry vibe at Campbelltown Library. The scoring was incredibly close with only fractions of a point separating the finalists. Congratulations to Sidharth Nambiar, Aaron Mitchell, Sonny Wissman, Solar, and Cameron Turner who all will be heading to the 2026 Summer … ... Read more ...
Saturday 31 January 2026
Doors open for sign-up at 6:30pm
Campbelltown Public Library
171 Montacute Rd, Newton, SA 5074
Summer Slam is back throughout January and early February in 2026, with two heats and a final. The Summer Slam is a beginner friendly, relaxed slam and a great way to kick off the coming year of poetic endeavours.
There is no theme, so make the most of those lazy summer evenings… dip your legs in the pool and get to writing!
Heat 1 at Jive was a blast with 5 poets moving through to the final. Now 5 more poets … ... Read more ...
Heat 1 of the 2026 Summer Slam featured a diverse and high quality range of poets competing for the first lot of 5 slots in the 2026 Summer Slam Final. Congratulations to finalists: Ben Adams, Megan Ellis, Kathryn Reese, Elise Witter and John Willison!
Thursday 15 January 2026
Doors open for sign-up at 6:30pm
JIVE
181 Hindley St, Adelaide, SA 5000
Summer Slam is back throughout January and early February in 2026, with two heats and a final. The Summer Slam is a beginner friendly, relaxed slam and a great way to kick off the coming year of poetic endeavours.
There is no theme, so make the most of those lazy summer evenings… dip your legs in the pool and get to writing!
Our opening heat is at Jive, a fabulous venue with a big stage, great bar and fun vibe. They have … ... Read more ...
Summer Slam is back throughout January and early February in 2026, with two heats and a final. The Summer Slam is a beginner friendly, relaxed slam and a great way to kick off the coming year of poetic endeavours.
There is no theme, so make the most of those lazy summer evenings… dip your legs in the pool and get to writing!
5 poets from each of the 2 heats will win book prizes, courtesy of Dymocks Adelaide, and go through to the final to compete for more awesome prizes at the State Library on Saturday 7 February, 2026.
The … ... Read more ...
Words can’t express how incredibly proud we are that SA slam poet Arantza Garcia won the 2025 Australian Poetry Slam!
Both Arantza and Tori (TJ) represented SA with heartfelt and beautifully intimate poems that left us with goosebumps and a tear in our eyes. It was truly an honour to share this experience with them and to showcase the amazing talent that we have here in SA.
This is the first time an SA poet has taken the win since the Australian Poetry Slam competition began 20 years ago! We know the entire SA poetry community shares a great … ... Read more ...
