HISTORY
2023 marked the 11th edition of the National Poetry Slam which has established itself as the largest stage for Spoken Word in the Caribbean, with a TT$50,000 first place prize, the biggest cash prize for Spoken Word artists in the world.
In 2020 and 2021, the First Citizens National Poetry Slam was a televised event with live judging broadcast and streamed to the public for free. Closed auditions were held via Zoom, where twenty poets were chosen for the semi-final rounds airing in August of both years.
In 2022, all stages of the championship were accessible for public viewing, for free, and was hosted by popular personalities each year. 2023 marked the return of the annual Spoken Word championship to its traditional in-person, pre-covid schedule, leading up to the annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest. The Grand Slam, once again, is the high-energy closing event of the festival.
Over ten years, the First Citizens National Poetry Slam has seen:
- 1167 poets auditioned (2013-2023)
- 348 semi-finalists (2013-2023)
- 128 finalists (2013-2023)
- 36 winners (1st – 3rd places)
- TT $637,000 distributed in prize money
- 66 Slam events to date
Competing against our Defending Champion
Alexandra Stewart
Semifinalists
Semifinals Judges
Latest News
Auditions Recap
Audition Judges
2023 First Citizens National Poetry Slam Rubric
The scoring criteria are:
Voice – Tone quality, breath support, and intonation
Articulation – That includes diction and is how well and correctly the poet forms their vowels and consonants.
The poet demonstrates comfort on stage in performance, confidence in chosen activity, and appropriate expressions.
Gestures and appropriate movement should be consistent with the theme of the piece being performed. The actor utilises body movement to portray characterisation of the piece.
How the poet uses any literary technique employed by the author to produce an effect (tone, irony, figurative language, symbolism, foreshadowing, etc.).
How well the poet organises their ideas and expresses them in complete and coherent sentences. This also considers the style, tone and clarity of the messages articulated.
The piece being performed is unbroken and consistent. There is intentional effort and concentration on the consistency of the characteristics of people, plot, objects, places, or any other element used in the piece.
Poets will be penalised for exceeding their time.
Latest News
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Judges
Her Excellency, Paula Mae Weekes
President to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Special Guest Judge.
elisha bartels
Head Judge - Author, Performer
Teresa White
Chief Shared Services Officer,
ANSA McAL Group of Companies
Omari Ashby
Creative Director, SagaboyCulture
Lecturer - Department of Creative and Festival Arts at The University of the West Indies
Kevin Jared Hosein
Author, Educator
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“By the level of talent that exudes from our people in Trinidad and Tobago. It was amazing to hear how eloquently an everyday topic, or less-thought-about personal experience, can be captured so creatively and paint a different perspective.”
Behind the Scenes
Derron Sandy is 2021 Grand Slam Champion!
Veteran spoken word performer, and five-time finalist in the First Citizens National Poetry Slam, Derron Sandy, has copped his first Grand Slam win, taking home the grand prize of $50,000!
Dethroning the two-time defending champion, Alexandra Stewart, Derron’s ode to food vendors entitled “The Underground Warlords” was judged the winning performance by this year’s judges — Dennise Demming, Marge Blackman, Kwame Weekes, Paul Keens-Douglas, and Whitney Husbands.
Alexandra came in 2nd place and has won $20,000, and in third place, poet Michael Logie has earned the $10,000 cash prize.
Congrats to the top 3 winners of the 2021 Slam, and to all the finalists for a spectacular final!
The Grand Slam poets all delivered sizzling performances, providing commentary on pertinent social justice issues and topics near and dear to their hearts. The finals aired on TTT on Sunday October 17 – relive the magic of the performances below!
2019 Grand Slam: Top Performances
2018 Grand Slam: Top Performances
Behind the Poem
A lot of work goes into the making of that triumphant moment on stage in the Grand Slam. “Behind the Poem” is a video series where finalists in the 2019 First Citizens National Poetry Slam explain their final poem. Each poet gives us a glimpse into the themes and ideas that motivated their final piece in the competition and tells us what problems they may have faced during the writing process