On April 25, 2024, 21 students from 11 high schools competed for the title of Grand Slam Champion at the annual Verselandia! Youth Poetry Slam Championship.
Our top five poets were: in fifth place, Iris Gray from Franklin High School; in fourth place, Emilia Cafiso of Lincoln High School; in third place, Jazlynn Davis of Parkrose High School; in second place, Frankie Diller-Beardsley of Lincoln High School; and our 2024 Verselandia! Grand Slam Champion is Qiana Woods of Parkrose High School.
Applaud the poets!
Verselandia! is a celebration of Portland’s youth poets: a Grand Slam competition for winners of individual poetry slams held throughout the year by area public high school librarians. The championship event was held at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and was hosted by Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani. This year’s judges were Breena Bard, an Oregon Book Award winning graphic novelist; Prakruti Bhatt, OPB Arts & Culture video producer and journalist; Tyler Hobbs, President of the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation; Nanea Woods founder of Prose Before Bros, a book club for and by women of color; and Winta Yohannes, Executive Director of Albina Vision Trust.
Verselandia! has the same rules as national poetry slams: Students’ poetry must be original work, each performance cannot exceed three minutes, and poets cannot use any props, costumes, or music. Verselandia judges use a scale of one to ten, rating both the writing and the performance on a scale of one to ten. Our top five winners receive cash prizes.
