Summer Slam 2026 Final!

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

Book 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 a new poem that … ... Read more ...

Summer Slam 2026 Heat 2 maintains the vibe!

  • Heat 2 finalists
  • finalist – Cameron Turner
  • finalist – Solar
  • finalist – Aaron Mitchell
  • finalist – Sonny Wissman
  • finalist – Sidharth Nambiar
  • Samantha Seymor
  • Sally Hardy
  • River Hill
  • Annette Swain
  • Sahil Choujar
  • Chelsea Avard
  • Jess Lynch
  • MC – Tracy “Coogs” McNally
  • sacrifice – Matthew Pankhurst
  • Audience at Campbelltown Library

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 ...

Summer Slam 2026 – Heat 2 at Campbelltown Library

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 ...

Hot start to the 2026 Summer Slam!

  • Heat 1 Winners
  • Ben Adams
  • Megan Ellis
  • Kathryn Reese
  • Elise Witter
  • John Willison
  • Tessa Leon
  • Mohamed S
  • Annette Swain
  • Aaron Woolford
  • Sahil Choujar
  • Brooklyn Saliba
  • Chelsea Avard
  • Joshua McCourt
  • Sacrifice – Carissa Fischer
  • Joshua coaches MC Tracy
  • MC Tracy McNally calls on the poetry gods.
  • Thank you, Jive

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!

Heat 2 is on … ... Read more ...

SWAS Summer Slam 2026 – Heat 1 at Jive

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 ...

Get warmed up for the 2026 SWSA Summer Slam!

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 ...

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 ...

Be Natural Poetry Slam – poems and performances to fit our times…

  • winners
  • winner – Ben Adams
  • runner-up – Sahil
  • Olenka Toroshenko
  • Jacqueline Collier
  • Aaron Mitchell
  • Rita Dee
  • David Cronin
  • Kathryn Reese
  • Nick Falkner
  • Alex Adorno
  • John Willison
  • Tyler Clare
  • Chloe West
  • Pep
  • Tiffany Wilson
  • Tim O’Loughlin
  • Caitlin Cantwell
  • guest – Shaine Melrose
  • MC – Pam Makin
  • Audience at Arthur Art Bar

On the final weekend of the 2025 Nature Festival, a fabulous line-up of poets presented their nature-influenced work to a large and enthusiastic audience at Arthur Art Bar. Topics and styles were as diverse as ever, but it was impossible to ignore the toxic algal bloom currently afflicting so … ... Read more ...