Australian Poetry Slam Heat at Launceston Library

Poets Run Launceston!

Want to change the world with your words?

It’s time to rip scrawled leaves of passion from your notebook and ignite them on stage.

Every year since 2007, the not-for-profit organisation Word Travels runs Australian Poetry Slam (APS) heats and wordshops in over 60 locations across the Asia-Pacific.

APS is the cupped hand amplifying the shouts of over 2000 new and emerging writers annually.

Share your words for two minutes on the mic. By throwing your ideas into the slam-storm, you could be chosen as the 2026 Australian Poetry Slam-bassador and offered an international writers’ festival tour worth about $20K.

Use your poems to spark new dreams, clear out cobweb memes or offer listeners a sturdy eucalypt branch with a better view. This is your call.

Get up. Gather at your local slam. Share with your community.

Jump on the mic or listen, cheer and hold-up scorecards as part of the audience in this international celebration of spoken-wordsmiths. Electrify us. Show the world how POETS RUN THIS!

This APS Heat audience will send two writers to represent Launceston in a performance at the Tasmania Final on Saturday 19 September. The top 16 in the country make it to the National Final at Sydney Opera House on Sunday 25 October.

Want to get inspired with a slam wordshop led by a professional spoken word artist? Check out the Launceston 2026 APS Workshop: APS Workshop Launceston.

Feeling inspired by all moments poetic and spoken word? There is an expanded program of workshops, heats and Tasmania APS 2026 events to experience! APS 2026

Hosted by Dylan – NXT PhaZe

Dylan – NXT PhaZe is a storyteller and poet from Burnie, Tasmania. His work lives in the spaces between pain and perseverance, turning lived experience into verse that doesn’t flinch. Dylan writes about fatherhood, addiction, grief, and survival - not to perform suffering, but to name it, carry it, and set it down. His words are heavy, honest, and built to be felt. There’s rage in them, and tenderness. There’s darkness, but also the stubborn will to keep going. NXT PhaZe uses poetry to break cycles, to speak for the parts of himself that were silenced, and to reach the people still fighting in the dark.

Doors open/poet sign-up at: 5:30 pm

Slam starts at: 6:00 pm

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.

See www.australianpoetryslam.com for full 2026 details.

Head to www.wordtravels.info to find out more about how you can get involved with the not-for-profit organisation presenting the annual APS.

Australian Poetry Slam is presented by Word Travels. This project is supported by the Libraries Tasmania. Also supported by NSW Government through Create NSW, Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Singapore Writers Festival and Byron Writers Festival.

APS 2026 artwork design: Rachel Stone Designs and DEFNE. Concept: Miles Merrill and the Word Travels team. Poem excerpt in design: APS Champion 2025 – Arantza Garcia Ferrand.

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