Doors: 6.30 pm |  Start: 7 pm
(local time)

Tickets and more information here.

Poets Run NSW!

Australian Poetry Slam (APS) empowers communities to do more than stream other people’s creativity. APS brings you writers from across NSW who do more than post platitudes with living room revolutionaries.

They shout: Drop the screen. Stop the scroll. Gather at your local slam. Celebrate ideas and imagination with real humans spilling live verses.

At the NSW Slam Final you’ll see at least one writer answer the call of a mic on a stand that’s been whispering their name since they were 12. Poets will bounce the spotlight off their chests. They will glow poems to ignite every mind in the room.

NSW poets from country towns and urban centres will carry you out to the tip of a sturdy branch to give you a clearer view of the cultural storm.

Word Travels, the non-profit organisation bringing you the Australian Poetry Slam (APS) since 2010, says, “Hey you! Ignore that wrinkled cushion begging your bum to curl into couch. Dive into writers slamming on the NSW State Library stage.”

You may be chosen as a judge, sending two word heroes to the 2026 APS National Final at Sydney Opera House on October 25th!

Slams are creative democratic forums. APS invites communities to annually elect a National Poetry Slambassador: A cathartic champion. A geiger counter clicking out the country’s true anthems.

National Slam-bassadors get $20k worth of publishing and gigs at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Singapore Writers Festival and more. Power to the poets!

HOST: DEFNE
FEATURING: The Australian Poetry Slam 2026 NSW Finalists

Content Warning: Most Poetry Slams are all ages and some content may not be suitable for children. Performances may include strong language and / or adult themes.

Event times local time.

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This Australian Poetry Slam event is presented by Word Travels.

State Library of New South Wales – Mitchell Library, 1 Shakespeare Pl, Sydney NSW 2000