Teen Poetry Slam


For over 25 years, Youth Speaks' Teen Poetry Slam has propelled spoken word around the globe. Youth from all over the Bay compete to become a finalist and rep the Bay Area at the Brave New Voices Festival – a 4-day international youth poetry festival celebrating arts education, performance, and civic engagement.

The Teen Poetry Slam and the Brave New Voices Festival is a tradition celebrating some of the most astounding young writers and performers around the world and is open to anyone 13-19 years old.

Bring your best poem to compete for a $50 prize and the chance to advance to the Teen Poetry Slam Finals. The signup list is first come first serve and opens at 5:00 pm, the show starts at 6:00!

Poetry Slams are an Olympic-style competition where poets have 3 minutes to rock the stage, mic, and audience with 5 judges giving scores. The Teen Poetry Slam consists of 3 rounds — Preliminaries, Semi-finals, and Finals.

The top-scoring poets in each preliminary bout move on to the semifinals and the top 6 highest scoring individuals from the Slam Finals are invited to represent Team Bay Area at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival taking place in Washington D.C. this summer.

Grab your tickets today!

The Teen Poetry Slam is only open to Bay Area teens. 

 

COVID Protocol

As we continue to explore new opportunities to gather & build community within an ever-changing world, here is an update on the ways we will continue to practice harm reduction & remain accountable to your safety.

In the interest of maintaining a safe and accountable environment for all participants, failure to abide by these protocols can result in ineligibility to participate in Youth Speaks activities.

2023 Finals Winners

Zoe (second from right) will be joined by the top five scoring poets from the Teen Poetry Slam Finals as they rep the Bay Area at the Brave New Voices 2023 Festival in San Francisco this July. Say hello to the team (pictured from left to right): Lee the Prophet, Cecilia, Lauren, Mahder, Zoe, Julia.