Verselandia! Youth Poetry Slam Championship 2025

Verselandia! is the annual youth poetry slam championship presented by Literary Arts. It is the Grand Slam for the winners from individual school slams hosted by public high school librarians across the Portland region. Finalist poets compete for five great prizes.

Members of the public are invited to cheer on the youth poets as they compete for poetic glory in front of a panel of judges. This year’s judges are Oregon State Representative Dacia Grayber, spoken word poet and educator La Toya Hampton, Multnomah County Library Director Annie Lewis, local author and translator Daniel Nieh, and President of Weiden + Kennedy North America Jason White. Poet and performer Julia Gaskill, co-founder of the monthly open-mic series Slamlandia as well as the annual Bigfoot Poetry Festival, will host this year’s event.

Learn more about Verselandia! here.

Please note that the poets may perform poetry containing mature themes.

Thank you to our supporters:

To create access for our wider community we need the support of event sponsors.
If you or your company is interested in sponsorship, please email development@literary-arts.org.