SYDNEY FINAL – AUSTRALIAN POETRY SLAM
WHERE: Word Travels – City Space
Level 2 / 101-111 William St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
COST: $18–$35
Start: 7 pm
UPDATE: The 2026 Sydney APS Final is now sold out! There are still tickets available for the NSW APS State Final and APS National Final.
Poets Run Sydney!
They rip scrawled leaves of passion from their notebooks. They climb an ancient trunk and throw their verses into the current for you to catch.
Get inside the venue. Grab a seat. The Sydney slam-storm is brewing.
Poets have jumped on the mic in neighbourhood slams from Katoomba to Blacktown to Double Bay, from Wollongong to The Rocks to Newcastle and a bunch o’ places in between.
Now the city’s top wordsmiths, elected by their communities in local heats, stanza and deliver for one night of roar, whisper and finger-snap action.
Word Travels, the non-profit organisation bringing you the Australian Poetry Slam (APS) since 2010, invites you to ignore that wrinkled cushion begging your bum to curl into couch.
Be spellbound by writers slamming live in this exclusive event staged in Word Travels’ own home – the International Performing Writers Centre.
Audience judges will select two reps for a place in the 2026 APS NSW Final at the State Library on 16 October!
There will be tears and cheers in this nation-wide search for the people’s poet.
The ultimate prize is about $20k worth of publishing and gigs at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Singapore Writers Festival and more.
HOST: Dai Moret
MUSIC / DJ: Yum Yum
FEATURING: The Australian Poetry Slam 2026 Sydney Finalists
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This Australian Poetry Slam event is presented by Word Travels.
Content Warning: Most Poetry Slams are all ages and some content may not be suitable for children. Performances may include strong language and / or adult themes.
Event times local time.
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This project is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. Also supported by Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and Byron Writers Festival.
APS 2026 Sydney Final artwork features performing writer Dai Moret. Artwork design: APS 2026 artwork design: Rachel Stone Designs, DEFNE and Adara Enthaler. Concept: Miles Merrill and the Word Travels team. Poem excerpt in design: APS Champion 2025 – Arantza Garcia Ferrand.
Image of Dai Moret – Nimbin Poetry highlights 2025 photo credit: @reelpixs Charlie Azzopardi.
Image of Yum Yum – photo credit: E1 Collective.
Image of audience at APS event – photo credit: unknown.
