The sixth annual Massachusetts Youth Poetry Slam Festival drew 300 youth poets to the Sheraton Boston Hotel for two days of preliminary competition and workshops on April 8-9. The tournament will continue throughout the month of April across Boston with championship event set for Dorchester’s historic Strand Theatre on Sat., May 6. All events are free leading up to the team finals, which is $10 general admission and free for youth groups.
Sixteen out of 40 teams have advanced to the semi-finals which will be held at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate on Tues., April 25 from 6-9:30 p.m. The semi-finals will feature four poetry slam events and the winner of each team poetry slam will advance to the state championship. The local teams competing in the semi-finals include Codman Academy Slam Poetry Team and Boston Collegiate Charter School.
The festival is run by the Massachusetts Literary Education and Performance Collective (MassLEAP), a Boston-based collective of poets, educators and writers who help to establish a platform for youths and foster their development through performance poetry. Participants must be 13-19 years of age and represent a school, church or community organizations that is dedicated to serving Massachusetts’s teens.
Participants can enter individually if their school or organization does not have a team. The participating communities are Boston, Worcester, Metro West and the North Shore. For additional details and tickets, visit massleap.org.
