Unislam 2025
UniSlam 2025
University of Birmingham
Friday 11th - Sunday 13th April
Join over 20 teams of writers from across the UK and Ireland for the 11th annual UniSlam Festival. All events will take place at the University of Birmingham's Edgebaston Campus, in Muirhead Tower (Friday & Saturday) and Elgar Concert Hall in the Bramall Music Building (Sunday). The nearest train station is University (Birmingham), a short train ride from Birmingham New Street; please factor this in to your travel plans. Semi Finals and Grand Finals will take place in the Elgar Concert Hall, tickets for Grand Finals can be purchased here.
MONDAY - THURSDAY
Workshops (team only)
A series of online workshops will take place for teams in the week leading up to the festival
6:00pm - 7:00pm each night
FRIDAY
Team Registrations (team only)
Muirhead Tower Foyer
4:00pm - 5:15pm
Official Welcome (teams only)
Muirhead Tower Lecture Theatre G15
5:30pm - 6:00pm
Artists Panel: 125 years of poetry at UoB and beyond
Muirhead Tower Lecture Theatre G15
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Apples & Snakes UniSlam Takeover with open mic ft. Maria Ferguson, Kareem Parkins Brown & Bradley Taylor
Muirhead Tower Lecture Theatre G15
Doors & open mic sign up 7:15pm, event runs 7:30pm - 10:00pm
SATURDAY
All preliminary heats will take place in Muirhead Tower Room 121 & Lecture Theatre G15
Preliminary heats 1A & 1B
11:00am - 12:15pm
Preliminary heats 1C & 1D
12:45pm - 2:00pm
Preliminary heats 2A & 2B
3:30pm - 4:45pm
Preliminary heats 2C & 2D
5:15pm - 6:30pm
Coaches Slam (optional)
Muirhead Tower Lecture Theatre G15
8:00pm - 10:00pm
SUNDAY
Semi Finals 1
Egar Concert Hall
11:30am - 1:00pm
Semi Finals 2
Egar Concert Hall
1:30pm - 3:00pm
Grand Finals ft. Harry Baker, Ella Frears & LateKid
Egar Concert Hall - Tickets here
Livestream link coming soon
4:30pm - 7:00pm
National Poetry Collectives Showcase
The NPCS will be returning in 2026
Judges
UniSlam has worked with some of the most celebrated and exciting voices in contemporary poetry to deliver the highest quality range of workshops, talks and masterclasses for our participants. These industry experts and professional artists also host and judge our slam rounds, giving quality feedback to our competing poets. Over the years, they have included the following:
Hollie McNish – Caroline Bird – Mona Arshi – Andrew McMillan – Mimi Khalvati – Hannah Lowe – Jacob Sam-La Rose – Kayo Chingonyi – Hannah Silva – Joelle Taylor – Rachel Long – Dizraeli – Caleb Femi – Luke Kennard – Bridget Minamore – Sierra DeMulder – Malika Booker – Paul Tran – Melissa Lozada-Oliva – Aliyah Hasinah – Jenny Lindsay – Rachel McCrum – Vanessa Kisuule – Bohdan Piasecki – Yomi Sode – Maria Ferguson – Rob Auton – Roger Robinson – Jess Green – Inua Ellams – Travis Alabanza – Cecilia Knapp – Wayne Holloway-Smith – Anthony Anaxagorou – John Berkavitch – Deborah ‘Debris’ Stevenson – Aliyah Hasinah – Spoz – Liz Counsell – Amerah Saleh – Khadijah Ibrahiim – Laurie Bolger – Bridget Hart – Ben Norris – Erin Bolens – Sophia Walker – Gabriel Jones – Deanna Rodger – Jasmine Gardosi – Casey Bailey – Akshay ‘Mr Shay’ Sharma