SA Poetry Slam

SA Poetry Slam 2026 – Heat 1 blasts off!

  • Heat 1 winners
  • Heat 1 winner – Sarah Rowe
  • Heat 1 runner-up – Sahil Choujar
  • Tiahna Ludborzs
  • John Willison
  • Miles Falahey
  • Suzi Hall
  • John Thompson
  • Megan Ellis
  • Avalanche
  • Solar
  • Ben Adams
  • Bryan McQueen-Mason
  • Nikki Lovell
  • Jas
  • Tabitha
  • Salah Dannaoui
  • Brooklyn Saliba
  • Dmitri Akers
  • Stephanie Mylan
  • Aaron Woodford
  • Guest – Mei Szetu
  • Sacrifice – Matthew Pankhurst
  • MC – Tracy McNally
  • Volunteers – Jazz & Pam
  • Out of the hat
  • The Hat Hat
  • Clarissa – interpretative dance
  • Heat 1 audience

Heat 1 of the 2026 SA Poetry Slam went off with a blast at the State Library of South Australia: a packed … ... Read more ...

2026 Australian Poetry Slam – SA Heat 2

Saturday 1 August 2026
Doors open for sign-in: 6:30pm

Parks Library
46-48 Trafford Street, Angle Park, SA 5010

$15 to compete or listen
Click here to book.

Who will become our next Australian Poetry Slam Champion as audiences vote in events around the country? The prize? They tour Australasia sharing their creative thoughts and inspiring people everywhere to speak their own poetry.

Two poets chosen by the audience at each of our five South Australian heats will head to the SA Final. At the final, our winner and runner-up will be off to the Nationals at the Sydney Opera House!… ... Read more ...

Get ready for your slam – interview with 2025 Australian Poetry Slam winner, Arantza Garcia

Arantza Garcia performs at the SA Final of the 2025 Australian Poetry Slam

With the South Australian heats of the 2026 Australian Poetry Slam starting up soon, you might be wondering what it takes to do well in a poetry slam. If so, have a listen to Arantza Garcia, winner of the 2025 Australian Poetry Slam.

Arantza Garcia is an emerging Peruvian writer and member of the Latin American Community on Kaurna Country. She has performed at events such as Jaurna/Feast festivals, and First Fridays at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Having been a finalist in the South Australian … ... Read more ...

Mei Szetu – Guest performer for 2026 SA Slam Heat 1

We are pleased to announce that Mei Szetu is our awesome, guest performer for SA Heat 1 of the 2026 Australian Poetry Slam on Saturday 25th July at the State Library of South Australia.

Mei Szetu is a queer, neurodivergent, Malaysian Chinese Australian poet born, raised and practising on Kaurna Country. They began performing spoken word poetry at open mics in 2022, and have since become a frequent feature performer, appearing on many a line up. They also organise Rewind Poetry. In 2024, they came first place in the South Australian leg of the Australian Poetry Slam, going on to … ... Read more ...

2026 Australian Poetry Slam – SA Heat 1

Saturday 25 July 2026
Doors open for sign-in: 6:30pm

State Library of South Australia
Hetzel Lecture Theatre
cnr North Tce and Kintore Ave, Adelaide , SA, 5000

$15 to compete or listen
Click here to book.

Who will become our next Australian Poetry Slam Champion as audiences vote in events around the country? The prize? They tour Austral-Asia sharing their creative thoughts and inspiring people everywhere to speak their own poetry.

Two poets chosen by the audience at each of our five South Australian heats will head to the SA Final. At the final, our winner and runner-up will be … ... Read more ...

2026 Australian Poetry Slam – SA Dates for heats and final

The SA dates for the Australian Poetry Slam are in!
We can’t wait to hear what SA’s slammers throw down this year!

We’ll be sharing all the details as we go along, including all the event links and booking info, but for now… put these dates in your calendar and start writing!

If you’d like to work up your material before the heats, click here to check out the forthcoming workshops offered by Spoken Word SA.

Heat 1
Saturday 25th July, 6:30pm
State Library of South Australia

Heat 2
Saturday 1st August, 6:30pm
Parks Library

Heat 3
Saturday 15th August, … ... Read more ...

Arantza Garcia, 2025 SA Poetry Slam winner is Australian Poetry Slam National Champion!

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 ...

SA Final of 2025 Australian Poetry Slam – top quality and a full house!

  • Finalists
  • winner – Arantza Garcia
  • runner-up – TJ
  • Stephanie Mylan
  • Conor Brown
  • Elise Witter
  • Peter Wilkes
  • Jacqueline Collier
  • Ben Adams
  • Nigel Ford
  • sacrifice – Nadia Patterson
  • guest performer – Jack Vaul
  • MC – Tracy McNally
  • Score desk – Pam Makin & Matthew Pankhurst

What a great night at Goodwood Theatre and Studios for the SA Final of the 2025 Australian Poetry Slam! After a tight, high quality contest in front of a full house, we are proud to have winner Arantza Garcia and runner-up Tori Johns (TJ) representing the SA poetry community at the National Final of the Australian Poetry … ... Read more ...