FIRST NATIONS
LAND
Australian Poetry Slam acknowledges that we work, live, and tell stories on the unceded lands of the Gadigal People. We pay respect to their Elders past and present. Always was, always will be First Nations land.
APS LIVESTREAMS
COLLECTION
Praise to the poets from around the country who have shared and bared their souls throughout the competition — thank you for being on our stage.
CONNECT WITH US
Comment, like, share, join the conversation.
WORK WITH US
We’re always keen to hear from volunteers to help bring our programs to life. Gain new skills, get a behind-the-scenes look at delivering a literary event, meet like-minded people – and, most of all, have an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
AUSTRALIAN POETRY SLAM 2025
Poets Run This!
Word Travels Calls a New Election!
The nation-wide search for the people’s poet is on.
Who will become our next Australian Poetry Slam Champion as audiences vote in events around the country?
New slam and workshop dates live here. Dozens more to be launched June to September in small towns and metro centres leading up to the massive APS National Final on 26 October at Sydney Opera House.
Join us in giving the bullhorn back to the bards. The word nerds. The oral storytellers. The quiet thoughtful ones. Dreamers, lovers and those just searching for a damn meaningful life.
Elect a poet – A National Slambassador for 2025. The prize? They tour Austral-Asia sharing their creative thoughts and inspiring people everywhere to speak their own poetry.
Poets: share an original poem for two minutes on the mic.
Audience: listen, cheer, vote with scorecards in this national celebration of spoken-word.
Poets Run This: APS 2025.
Design concepts and work by Miles Merrill, Word Travels Team and Rachel Stone Designs
2024 APS National Final: APS ‘24 Champion Jo Giles – photo credit: Jacquie Manning
APS ‘24 CHAMPION
Congratulations Jo Giles, winner of the 2024 Australian Poetry Slam National Final!
On 13 October, Jo Giles from WA was crowned the 2024 Australian Poetry Slam National Champion at the APS National Final held at the Sydney Opera House.
Praise to the poets from around the country who have shared and bared their souls throughout the competition — thank you for being on our stage.
HELP OUR WORDS TRAVEL
We do a lot with our little piece of the pie but we can’t do it by ourselves.
Check out Creative Director, Miles Merrill’s, message to our supporters and indulge in his favourite pie recipe.
OUR IMPACT
Annually, Word Travels' and Australian Poetry Slam programs engage with thousands of writers and audience members.
In 2023 we had:
3,714 participants in our programs
307,188 audience members
190 activities
9 arts workers employed
92 paid artists
Your tax-deductible donation helps us support performing writers to establish careers in Australia and internationally. Hundreds of people from diverse regional communities have become working spoken word poets through our programs.
2010–2023
8.2mil audience
19K writers performing
40K students participating
2023 Australian Poetry Slam Champions Rob Waters and K.J. Hayward – photo credit: Jacquie Manning
2024 AUSTRALIAN POETRY SLAM FULL ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE!
With 60 heats across the nation, the best slammers perform for the chance to win the APS National Final. In past years the ultimate prize has been an all-expenses-paid international tour, performing at arts festivals around Australia, Southeast Asia and North America.
AUSTRALIAN POETRY SLAM
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SLAM YOUR POETRY: WRITE A REVOLUTION
Australian Poetry Slam partners with NewSouth Publishing to bring you Australia’s first guide to spoken word and poetry slams!
Written by Miles Merrill, the poet who brought slams down under, and award-winning high school teacher Narcisa Nozica, Slam Your Poetry catapults you from writing to performing to gigging, teaching and kick-starting your own slam community.
