NEW SEASON. NEW INTENTIONS.

We are back on our beloved premiere stage at the Brunswick Ballroom.

Slama is a space where we celebrate intersectional community and encourage Artists to bring their absolute best work to the stage.

It’s time for some cross pollination, fam. 

On May 21, we welcome Singapore Slam Champ, Shivram Gopinath to the Slama stage to help him release his debut poetry collection, Dey.

WHO IS SHIVRAM GOPINATH?

Born in Chennai, India, Shivram Gopinath is a poet who has called

Singapore a home for more than two decades, picking up a disdain

for the typical, and a never-ending appetite for thosai along the way.

His work has been heard at literary festivals, dingy bars and

living rooms across the Asia Pacific. He often teaches workshops

structured around poetic identity, and is co-founder of Mama

Magnet, a cultural co-creation studio with a network of independent

artists. Shivram is a twice-winning Singapore National Poetry Slam

champion. Dey is his debut collection.

About the book:

“Dey” is Tamil slang. A polysemic portal into community. It is “hey”,

“no”, “yes”; it hails, it invites, it warns, it cajoles, it pleads, it loves.

Just like Shivram Gopinath’s Dey: a cross-genre, multi-tongued

celebration of diasporic desire, complaint and joy that stretches

what poetry can be. Part translation, part illustration, part verse,

Dey is a love child of Tamil cinema tropes and themes, Singaporean

hopes and dreams. A discordant soundtrack to migrant identity, an

invitation to a language game, a retort to power. Rajinikanth, Lee

Kuan Yew, durian fish soup fight for your eyeballs. A thick syrupy

mix, that’s what. Dey, read it.

3-ROUND POETRY SLAM

- No props, music or costume. 
- Poems must be 3 minutes. 
- Must be original work. 

We are continuing with a pre-registration system (for now) until further notice. $10 for poets to register. 

POETS. Please have 3 pieces ready.