What is a poetry slam?

Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry.  Poets perform their original work and are judged by members of the audience. Judges give numerical scores (on a scale from 0 to 10), based on the poets' content and performance. For semis and finals, poets have a 3-minute time limit, with a 10 second grace period. It's a fast-paced, high-energy trick that we use to get people in a room together, excited about poetry. 

When are the slams?

We hold poetry slams on the first Thursday of every month. Competitions are open to all-ages unless otherwise specified, such as for youth poetry slams. Youth slams are open to young poets aged 13-19 years old.

What is it all for?

Mostly, the poetry and community! Poets on the ProvSlam team will have access to coaching and workshops to hone their writing skills and performance skills. They’ll have broader access to the poetry community through features and shows at our neighbor venues in other states or those within RI. When we can, we also send poets to national competitions:

National Poetry Slam (NPS):  The big leagues. The top two poets in every qualifying all-ages slam advance to semi-finals, though since we’ve restarted after pandemic shutdowns, we’ve skipping holding semi-finals in favor of a big Grand Slam. The top 4 or 5 poets in finals make it onto the Providence NPS Team. As of 2024, NPS has ended indefinitely.

Brave New Voices (BNV): The youth poetry festival and competition. The top two poets in every qualifying youth slam advance to youth finals (usually the third Thursday in February). The top 5 or 6 poets make it onto the Providence BNV Team.

Individual World Poetry Slam (IWPS): The national indy competition. The top-scoring poet in finals attends as Providence's rep.

Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWPS): The national all-women competition. We hold a special all-women slam, usually in February, to determine our rep. All women who have slammed in the previous year qualify.

 Who's at the Providence Poetry Slam?

Anyone can sign up to compete, no prior experience necessary! Slams and the open mic is hosted by a member of the ProvSlam staff.

What do I need to slam?

2 to 3 original poems. They don't need to be memorized but often score better if they are.

Your name on the list, which opens at 7:00 pm and usually fills up fast.

A little guts.

What do I need to judge a slam?

To not know any of the competitors personally.

A pulse.

What do I do if a poem or person make me feel unsafe?

We encourage poets and audience members to engage in dialogue around the content of one another's poems. It's not uncommon for a poem to spark anger, frustration, or confusion in a listener. One of our main goals is to build a space in which people can learn from and challenge each other.

That said, we also seek to build a space in which all members feel safe and respected. If something happens to violate this (whether in the content of a poem or through the actions of a person present at the slam), please speak to a ProvSlam staff member as soon as possible.