Poetry slams have crossed the border into the hearts of Canadians from all walks of life since it was cooked up in the soul-soaked city of Chicago in a jazz lounge just over a quarter century ago. Slams were created to transform spoken poetry from static readings for the artistic elite into stunning, interactive, dynamic, and competitive performances.

​Anyone can sign up and members of the audience are selected to be judges at the slam, assigning each poetry performance a score from 0 to 10.  Only original writing can be performed and no props or musical accompaniments are allowed; for three minutes, it’s just the poet, their poem, and an audience. Poets who compete in a slam have a chance to win ​the grand prize of $100.

About Our Events

Guelph Poetry Slam

The Guelph Poetry Slam happens at the e-bar (41 Quebec Street) the 3rd Saturday of every month 6:30 door, 7pm start (with some exceptions).

Anyone can sign-up to perform on the open mic or compete in the poetry slam.  The winning poet will receives $100! Every slam includes a feature performance from a spoken word artists.

Cover is $10/pwyc, $5 for performers and FREE if you have a birthaversary in the month. 

Sharpened Tongues Workshops

Sharpened Tongues is a workshop series aimed at helping writers and performers develop their craft. It focuses on small, sustainable workshops that provide safer spaces to learn and grow while paying facilitators a fair wage.

For info or ideas for future workshops, contact Patrick at [email protected].

Off The Page: A Writer's Open Mic

For the past 2 years As part of The Red Brick Cafe's Community Night series Guelph Spoken Word presents Off The Page, a writer's open mic. First Tuesday of every month. 7pm at The Red Brick Cafe (8 Douglas St.)

Bring your short stories, poems, monologues, stand up etc. 
This event is for writers and listeners alike. All ages, all genres, all welcome! Cover is by donation.

The Writing Womb

The Writing Womb (CURRENTLY ON HIATUS) is a weekly, intentional writing space facilitated by Guelph Spoken Word. If you need somewhere to write, to be a part of the writing community, quietly do other work, or just hang out and feel the creative juices palpably flowing, this is the event for you.

​Bring your laptop, notebook, script, scribbles, homework - whatever you want to work with. There will be a list of prompts posted if you'd like them and you are welcome to come and leave whenever you'd like. $5 suggested donation.