DOORS 6:30PM // $15 UNWAGED $20 WAGED TICKETS // SHOW STARTS 7PM

Slama acknowledges that our slam takes place in Naarm, on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded, no treaty was signed and it always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

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*This venue is wheelchair accessible 

*This venue has gender neutral toilets

COMING BACK TO OUR ROOTS! 
3 SHOWS ONLY IN 2025!

After a much needed hiatus of quiet creative development for Team Slama -  we are back, to gather, celebrate community and give you the space to raise your voices 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.

This is a season of coming back to our roots, gathering strength, taking risks and supporting our current team who will be competing at an international Poetry Slam, overseas in July 2025. 

On March 20th, it’s time to remember what Slama is at our core and why we do what we do. 

Consider this a warm up and a remembering! We’re starting things off slowly without the pressure of huge competition. Let’s simmer in some top notch spoken word poetry shall we!? 

Team Slama (comprised of Hayley, Steph, Jason and Antonio) will host a Mini-Showcase featuring the voices of previous team Slama Alumni Poets (these are Poets who represented Melbourne overseas in previous years!) as well as recent voices of Slama. Let’s create some poetic dialogue merging oldschool with newschool. 

We’ll also host a mini 6 slot MINI- SLAM (for funsies!) The winner will win an opener slot next month, upstairs in the Brunswick Ballroom on April 30th! 

We are also OVER THE MOON to be featuring the one and only DENISE CHAPMAN

WHO IS DENISE CHAPMAN?

Denise Chapman is a counternarrative storyteller, poet, critical autoethnographer, and academic who lectures in children’s literature and inclusive children’s media at Monash University.  She uses oral stories, literature, poetry, and digital images as counternarrative windows for liberation. Her counter-hegemonic creative work continues the traditions of her Gullah heritage. Denise was shortlisted for Queensland Poetry’s 2022 XYZ Prize for Excellence in Spoken Word, was the 2023 Mem Fox Fellow, has exhibited her creative work at the Counihan Gallery, Brisbane MetroArts, DotDot Studios, and recently presented her poetry at the Furious Flower IV Poetry Conference (USA) and the International Poetic Inquiry Symposium (New Zealand). Last year Denise became a fellow of The Watering Hole, a U.S. southern-based vanguard who builds Harlem Renaissance-style spaces for poets of colour. 

Photo credits: Adrian Posen and Colin Clark

1-ROUND POETRY SLAM 

(don’t worry Poets, we’ll get back to our usual 3 round slam next month on April 30th) 

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