Slam-O-Vision 2026 Qualifying Slam

Slam poets from all over Iowa are invited to compete in a qualifying slam on Sept. 3 that will pick Iowa City’s entrant into the international slam competition Slam-O-Vision.

Slam-O-Vision is a project of the international UNESCO Cities of Literature. Slam poets in 23 of the 63 Cities of Literature around the world will compete in their home cities. One poet from each participating city will move on to an international competition to be judged by fans from the other cities. At the end of the process, one poet will be named the Slam-O-Vision champion for 2026!

Everyone's welcome to compete in the qualifying slam or join us to simply enjoy watching the free show.

Date: Thursday, September 3

Time: Slam starts at 6:30 pm (Competing poets sign up at 6 pm)

Location: PS1 Close House, 538 S. Gilbert, Iowa City, IA

MC: Henry Morray, winner of 2025 Iowa City Qualifying Slam and the 2025 Global Slam-O-Vision Champion.

Slam Guidelines: 

The Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, Iowa City Poetry, and Mic Check Poetry Fest will co-host Iowa City’s qualifying slam poetry event at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Close House, 538 S. Gilbert St. Poets from across Iowa may participate. Sign-up begins at 6 p.m., the slam begins at 6:30 p.m. Each poet has three minutes to perform. At the completion of three rounds, the winning poet will be chosen to represent Iowa City in the international competition.

A video of the winning poet from the Sept. 3 event will be entered into the contest. Iowa City poets and poetry lovers will convene during the Iowa City Book Festival, to watch and rank the poets from the other participating cities. This same process will happen in the other Cities of Literature. That judging event will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.

Iowa City will host the 2026 final global event on Nov. 1, 2 pm, at the James Theater because Iowa's Henry Morray won the 2025 international title. That event will be livestreamed around the world. Before that can happen, each participating city will hold its own competition to select a poet to participate in the final.

Participating Cities of Literature are Angoulême, France; Bremen, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Exeter, UK; Gdansk, Poland; Gothenburg, Sweden; Heidelberg, Germany; Hobart, Australia; Iowa City; Kozhikode, India; Krakow, Poland; Kutaisi, Georgia; Lyon, France; Manchester, UK; Nottingham, UK; Odesa, Ukraine; Quebec City, Canada; Rio de Janiero, Brazil; Taif, Saudi Arabia; Tartu, Estonia; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Wroclaw, Poland.