Youth Slam Poetry
Literary Arts is proud to produce Verselandia!, our city-wide youth poetry slam which offers a public platform for local high school students to showcase their talents on stage..
Verselandia!
Verselandia! was founded by a visionary team of Portland public high school librarians and educators who ran individual poetry slams at their schools. As the competitions grew, Literary Arts became a partner and the producer of the championship event in April 2012. Today, during the last week of April, National Poetry Month, our annual Verselandia! event draws more than 1,000 people to cheer on youth poets at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Participating schools currently include Portland Public high schools as well as Gresham, Nelson, and Parkrose high schools.
For questions about our slam programming, send inquiries to Olivia Jones Hall, Director of Youth Programs, at olivia@literary-arts.org
Latest News
East Side Slam!
The East Side Slam! launched in 2019 as an opportunity for local high school students to participate in the first dedicated slam poetry competition serving East Multnomah County. Poets attending high schools in East Multnomah County, outside of Portland Public Schools, who won the qualifying slams at their high schools made their way to the East Side Slam! finale.
Learn more about the East Side Slam! in this Pamplin Media news article covering the inaugural event.
