The road to the Grand Finale continues in Bristol

Mind Over Matter Arts CIC is proud to present the return of Mind Over Slammer, a national spoken word initiative combining free, high-quality creative workshops with regional poetry slams, culminating in a Grand Finale in the heart of London.

Headliner: Vanessa Kisuule (https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poets/poet/102-30425_Kisuule)

The winner and first runner up of each heat will go through to the National Grand Finale in London on Wednesday 2nd June 2027 where they will all compete for a share of £3,000 in prize money. Travel and accommodation is covered.

Grand Finale Prizes:

1st Place: £1500

2nd Place: £1000

3rd Place £500

The winner of the National Grand Finale will earn a place in the 2028 UK & England Slam! Championships, run by Farrago Poetry, since 1994.

The UK & England Slam! Championships provide a route to the European Poetry Slam Championships.

Win at Farrago → European Championships → finish in the European Top 10 → World Poetry Slam Championships.

Applications to perform in the BRISTOL HEAT are open now! Apply here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-SyXabNCggOZLSlUBLGdFWUafJa_7EjHU356hIcuzQ0ilwQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=113374363283831648053).

Applications close Wednesday 30th December 2026 at 11pm

Names will be drawn at random and successful applicants will be contacted via email.

We appreciate that competition of any kind, or the discussion of potentially sensitive topics at events, may trigger anxiety or other pre-existing mental health concerns. As a result of this, following each slam, we are offering participants an optional, free 45 minute online aftercare session with our resident BACP-accredited psychotherapist Anna Sinski. Anna will also be available at each slam should participants require any care.

Read our full mission statement here (https://sites.google.com/view/mindoverslammer/mission-statement).

Please see our FAQ Page (https://sites.google.com/view/mindoverslammer/faq) for more information about how the slams work.

To stay up to date with all things Mind Over Slammer, sign up to the MoS mailing list (https://mailchi.mp/21858b1d48dd/mind-over-slammer).

Doors open: 6pm

Show: 7pm-10pm

DJ: 10pm-11pm

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

***Prize money funded privately***

Description supplied by the event organiser.