NSW STATE FINAL – AUSTRALIAN POETRY SLAM

Story Week 2026

Poets Run NSW!

Australian Poetry Slam (APS) empowers communities to do more than stream other people’s creativity. APS brings you writers from across NSW who do more than post platitudes with living room revolutionaries.

They shout: Drop the screen. Stop the scroll. Gather at your local slam. Celebrate ideas and imagination with real humans spilling live verses.

At the NSW Slam Final you’ll see at least one writer answer the call of a mic on a stand that’s been whispering their name since they were 12. Poets will bounce the spotlight off their chests. They will glow poems to ignite every mind in the room.

NSW poets from country towns and urban centres will carry you out to the tip of a sturdy branch to give you a clearer view of the cultural storm.

Word Travels, the non-profit organisation bringing you the Australian Poetry Slam (APS) since 2010, says, “Hey you! Ignore that wrinkled cushion begging your bum to curl into couch. Dive into writers slamming on the NSW State Library stage.”

You may be chosen as a judge, sending two word heroes to the 2026 APS National Final at Sydney Opera House on October 25th!

Slams are creative democratic forums. APS invites communities to annually elect a National Poetry Slambassador: A cathartic champion. A geiger counter clicking out the country’s true anthems.

National Slam-bassadors get $20k worth of publishing and gigs at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Singapore Writers Festival and more. Power to the poets!

HOST: DEFNE

FEATURING: The Australian Poetry Slam 2026 NSW Finalists

Doors 6.30pm | Start 7pm

Support new and emerging performing writers by making a tax-deductible donation with your ticket purchase.

See the full Story Week 2026 program at Word Travels when it is announced later this year.

DEFNE is a queer and neurodivergent Turkish-Australian multidisciplinary artist. She is the Creative Director & Host of West Side Poetry Slam in Parramatta. DEFNE has featured at State Library NSW, Art Gallery NSW, Riverside Theatres, and the Sydney Opera House twice as part of Bankstown Grand Slam, her 2025 team winning bronze. She performed poetry-and-song show, “DEFNE Opens Up”, at Flight Path Theatre, and her play, “Stomach It”, through OutLoud.

DEFNE’s work explores relationships in all their forms—romantic, familial, platonic, or with ourselves, mental health, abuse, or culture. Currently, she’s excited to expand into poetry theatre. A self-reclaimed drama queen, the world’s her runway she overruns with shared vulnerability and revolutionary intimacy.

Australian Poetry Slam is presented by the non-profit organisation Word Travels.

Word Travels transforms lives through great writing, powerfully performed. Donors to Word Travels support diverse performing writers to engage and inspire communities across Australia and the world. With your support, we create inclusive activities, performances and professional development that helps communities feel seen and heard. Please consider becoming a supporter today.

Make a tax-deductible donation with your ticket purchase or at the Word Travels website.

This project is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. Also supported by Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Mumbai LitFest, Singapore Writers Festival and Byron Writers Festival.

Content Warning: Most Poetry Slams are all ages and some content may not be suitable for children. Performances may include strong language and / or adult themes.

Before booking your tickets, please read the information on our website regarding any health safety measures.

APS 2026 NSW State Final artwork features performing writer DEFNE. Artwork design: APS 2026 artwork design: Rachel Stone Designs, DEFNE and Adara Enthaler. Concept: Miles Merrill and the Word Travels team. Poem excerpt in design: APS Champion 2025 – Arantza Garcia Ferrand.

Photo: DEFNE – photo credit DEFNE.

Word Travels acknowledges that we work, live, and tell stories on the unceded lands of the Gadigal People. We pay respect to their Elders past and present. Always was, always will be First Nations land.