Albuquerque Poetry Slam Crowns our 2019 Women’s Champion

Tonight at the Outpost Performance, the Albuquerque Poetry Slam closed our 25th Slam Season by crowning our 2019 Women’s Champion: Jessica Parascandola. She will represent the Duke City at the Women of the World Poetry Slam in Dallas, Texas, March 5-7th 2020. Many thanks, much love, & much respect to our finalists: D’Nessa MC, Liza […]

Southwest Shootout Tournament Rules

Individual Tournament Rules: 3 minute time limit with 10-second-grace-period, no props, no musical accompaniment, no costumes. 5 Judges, high & low score dropped, 3 median scores added to give the poet their score. .5 point deduction for every 10-second interval the poet gives over time. 4 poems needed to win. 2 Poems for Preliminaries, 2 […]

Southwest Shootout is Coming! August 9th & 10th! Registration Open Now – July 31st!

Greetings everyone! The 16th Annual Southwest Shootout Regional Poetry Slam Championship Is coming to Albuquerque, NM! Friday & Saturday, August 9th & 10th. Registration for teams is $200 & Individual Registration is $40. 1st – 4th Place prizes will be a tiered split of total team registration fees. Registration will be capped at 16-20 teams. […]

Cathy Cook Wins the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Triple Crown

Before a packed house at the Outpost Performance Space, Cathy Cook took first place and claimed the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Women’s Championship. Her victory caps off a perfect season, claiming the ABQ Slams City Championship as well as the UNM Loboslam Championship. Making her the first poet to ever win all 3 tournaments in the […]

25 Years of Albuquerque Poetry Slam: Demographics Data

Juliette Torrez founded the Albuquerque Poetry Slam in 1994 after headlining on the Lolapalooza tour. Yes, THAT Lolapalooza. When interviewed by PBS for the documentary, “Summon the Fire,” about her role in pioneering the Burque Poetry Scene, she gave this humble response with a smile, “It’s not about me, it’s about the poets.” These words […]

15th Annual Southwest Shootout Poetry Slam

Albuquerque, NM – ABQ Slams, The City of Albuquerque Cultural Services Dept., The Kimo Theater, and Zullo’s Bistro are proud to present the 2018 Southwest Shootout Poetry Slam Championship — the biggest night of slam poetry in Albuquerque this year on Friday & Saturday, July 20th & 21st at 7:00 pm. 

Poetry Slam is the […]

Gigi Bella is our 2016 ABQ Slams Women’s Champion

After a hard-fought slam before a packed house at Outpost Performance Space. This year’s slam was hosted by Lauren Poole and featured poetry by Robin Reynolds, Gabriella Reyes, Brooke Von Blomberg, Bianca Sanchez, Kristian Macaron, Gigi Bella, Rowie Shebala, and Cathy Cook.; In the end, we had a tie-breaker round between Gigi and Rowie and […]

Your 2016 ABQ Slam Team is. . .

Saturday night, The Outpost Performance Space was sold out for another year and Albuquerque Poetry Slam crowned its 22nd consecutive Slam Team. Our show was hosted by ABQ Slams Legend, Manuel Gonzalez, and featured a slew of first-time finalists and seasoned poets: Kae Piller, Cathy Cook, Robin Reynolds, Marcial Delgado, and Brooke Von Blomberg all […]

ABQ Slams Grand Slam Championship @ The Outpost Performance Space

April 2nd, 7:30 PM, Outpost Performance Space Watch Albuquerque’s top 10 poets square off to represent The Duke City at The National Poetry Slam in August. Tickets available at www.outpostspace.org Don’t miss it! Competing Poets: Audrey Tobyas, Eva Crespin, Mercedez Holtry, Robin Reynolds, Avery Frank, Damien Flores, Marcial Delgado, Kae Piller, Brooke Von Blomberg, and […]

Mercedez Holtry is our Two-Time ABQ Slams Women’s Champion

After a great slam at the Outpost Performance Space on Friday night, Mercedez Holtry was crowned our champion for the second year in a row. She will represent the Duke City at the Women of the World Poetry Slam in Brooklyn, NY this March! Also congrats to our finalists: Avery Frank, Robin Reynolds, Brooke Von […]