Tucson Poetry Slam

January 25, 2026 | The Coalition

The Tucson Poetry Slam returns to The Coalition for a poetry slam featuring Ashanti Files on January 25th!

Ashanti Files is the 2025 Spotlight Poetry Phenomenal Woman Slam Champion, the 2021 Urbana Poet Laureate Emeritus, and a 2022 Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow.

Slam is a form of poetry competition that was founded by Marc Smith in Chicago in 1984. Whether performing or cheering from the audience, your soul will be touched by some amazing artists.

The rules to compete are simple:

*All poems must be original and written by the poet competing

*Poems will be judged by 3-5 randomly selected judges in the audience

*Poets will compete in 1 to 3 rounds (be prepared with 3 poems) with scoring to determine round 2 and 3 competitors

*No props or other materials not available to all posts are allowed

*No hate speech, disruptive behavior or nudity (respect each other)

*3 minute maximum with a 10 second grace period (.5 deducted for every 10 seconds over)

Signups to compete should be sent to tucsonslampoetry@gmail.com

Doors open at 6:30 PM

Competition is 7:00-9:00 PM

Cost to attend is “pay what you can” between $1 and $10

(Please note that topics often include sensitive, adult content or language, so suggested audience is 13 or older)

Feel free to bring your own non-alcoholic beverage.