SA Poetry Slam

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Saturday 27 September 2025
Doors open at 7:30pm

Goodwood Theatre & Studios
166 Goodwood Road, Goodwood, SA 5034

$25
Click here to book at trybooking

After 5 stupendous heats for the SA leg of the 2025 Australian Poetry Slam, we now have our 10 SA State Finalists gearing up to smash the stage at the Goodwood Theatre & Studios on Saturday 27 September.

Congratulations to Jacqueline Collier, Arantza Garcia, TJ, Nigel Ford, Conor Brown, Ben Adams, Peter Wilkes, Stephanie … ... Read more ...