All eyes are on Dublin City of Literatureas SLAMOVISION, the international slam poetry competition for UNESCO cities of literature across the world,takes place this week on Thursday 6 November from 7pm to 9pmGMTat Windmill Town Hall, Windmill Lane, in the heart of the city.
Celebrating 15 years as a UNESCO city of literature, Dublin is getting ready to host the SLAMOVISION Grand Finale’s 7th year. It will be the biggest slam poetry competition yet featuring17 poets from Melbourne to Reykjavik and in between. For the first time ever, poets from Kozhikode, India and Odessa, Ukraine will be participating in this eagerly awaited contest.
While many poets will be performing online, Dublin will welcome poets from Bremen, Manchester, Reykjavik, Odessa, Vilnius, Exeter and Nottingham performing live to an audience of loyal slam poet enthusiasts during this year’s Dublin Book Festival.
Rousing the audience and hosting this celebration of world slam poetry are Rising Tide, a trio of slam poetry curators who have been central to the local Dublin slam scene for many years.
UNESCO Creative Cities of Literatureuse creativity and culture to promote social, economic and cultural development of their cities. Slam poets are known for responding to many of life’s big questions and this year’s participants in SLAMOVISION are no exception. During the evening, we will hear about language and identity, war and retribution, climate change, and artificial intelligence.
Kateryna Kharchenko performs "This autobiography of destroyed roots"
Last year’s winner, Dubliner and bilingual poet, Cormac Mac Gearailt will lead the event and well-known slam champion, Cat Brogan, will represent Dublin with her poem ‘The House Martins’.
The 17 cities participating in this 7thGrand Finale are Bremen (Germany), Dublin (Ireland), Exeter(UK), Gothenburg (Sweden),Heidelberg (Germany), Iowa City (US), Kozhikode(India), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Manchester (UK), Melbourne (Australia), Nottingham (UK), Odessa (Ukraine), Québec City (Canada), Reykjavík (Iceland), Tartu (Estonia), Vilnius (Lithuania), and Wrocław (Poland).
Many cities are performing in their mother tongue.
About the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN): Established in 2004, the UCCN aims to foster collaboration among cities that recognise creativity as a crucial element in achieving sustainable urban development. 408 cities worldwide are part of this network, united in their pursuit of a shared goal: integrating creativity and cultural industries into their local development strategies while actively cooperating on the global stage. The Network encompasses eight diverse creative fields: Architecture, Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. 63 UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature from 46 countries are currently members of the Network, diligently working together to harness the transformative power of literature in fostering sustainable and inclusive societies.
