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

Tickets and more information here.

Poets Run Sydney!

They rip scrawled leaves of passion from their notebooks. They climb an ancient trunk and throw their verses into the current for you to catch. 

Get inside the venue. Grab a seat. The Sydney slam-storm is brewing.

Poets have jumped on the mic in neighbourhood slams from Katoomba to Blacktown to Double Bay, from Wollongong to The Rocks to Newcastle and a bunch o’ places in between.

Now the city’s top wordsmiths, elected by their communities in local heats, stanza and deliver for one night of roar, whisper and finger-snap action.  

Word Travels, the non-profit organisation bringing you the Australian Poetry Slam (APS) since 2010, invites you to ignore that wrinkled cushion begging your bum to curl into couch.

Be spellbound by writers slamming live in this exclusive event staged in Word Travels own home – the International Performing Writers Centre. 

Audience judges will select two reps for a place in the 2026 APS NSW Final at the State Library on 16 October!

There will be tears and cheers in this nation-wide search for the people’s poet. 

The ultimate prize is about $20k worth of publishing and gigs at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Singapore Writers Festival and more.

HOST: Dai Moret
FEATURING: The Australian Poetry Slam 2026 Sydney 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.

Word Travels – International Performing Writers Centre at Impact Story Lab Sydney, Digital Storytellers – 101-111 William St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010