The Providence Poetry Slam’s highly successful 2013-2014 season is culminating in its biggest night of the year: the Grand Slam Championship, hosted by local poets Franny Choi and Laura Brown-Lavoie.

Since September, over 30 local poets have engaged in the bi-monthly literary competitions. This week, the top nine competitors will vy for a spot on the 2014 ProvSlam Team, which will represent our city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, CA.

Poetry Slam is a fast-paced, high-stakes literary competition in which poets have three minutes to win the hearts of judges and audience members with their original work. Providence previously placed third at the 2011 National Poetry Slam in Boston/Cambridge, beating out over 70 teams from across the country. The Providence Poetry Slam (also known as ProvSlam) is one of the oldest and most respected poetry slam communities in the country. ProvSlam’s diverse programming includes bi-monthly open mics and competitions, free writing workshops, features by traveling artists, and a robust youth program which was recently funded by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

Come check it out 8pm Thursday May 15th!

$5 for adults, $2 for youth (19 and younger)