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SAVE THE DATE! 💛 Here’s our calendar for the rest of the 2025-2026 @provslam season. You’ll find us every 1st and 3rd Thursday only at @as220providence, where we’ve been since our founding in 1992! 💜

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This season, you can continue to expect phenomenal competitive poetry slams with Providence’s most electric poets, curated showcases spotlighting decades of ProvSlam alum and family, and of course, community.

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On 1st Thursdays of each month, we’ll host more dazzling features from out-of-town poets, including:


~ Parker-Vincent Alva (@parkervincentalva), Boston Youth Poet Laureate
~ Aparna Paul (@chickychicky_parpar), author of HOME FREE (Game Over, 2025)
~ Brynna Boyd (@brynna_boyd), 2025 VOX POP champion
~ Brianna Crocket (@moccahontas_), author of A Body of Want, a Galaxy of Other Trinkets (Game Over, 2025)
~ George Abraham (@intifadabatata), co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025)
~ Tatiana Johnson-Boria (@tatianajboria), author of Nocturne in Joy (2023), winner of the Julia Ward Howe Award in Poetry
~ Tru Kwene (@1trukwene) & Will Leonard (@will.leonardd), top two of the 2025 Slam Adams Champion of Champions
~ Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah (@leboah), Boston Poet Laureate

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And as always: please come back!

REGIONAL TEAM POETRY SLAM + OPEN MIC! — See you Thursday, May 21st at @AS220providence Main Stage! We’ve invited our pals from neighboring poetry slam venues for some friendly competition before we convene at the @NorthbeastRegional Tournament & Festival!

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Friends include:

Boston Poetry Slam (@BostonPoetrySlam) from Boston, MA
Just Be(loved) Poetry Slam (@JustBe_loved) from Boston, MA
Mill City Speaks (@LowellPoetryWheel) from Lowell, MA

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At 7:00 PM, doors to AS220 Main Stage open + sign-up lists for the open mic go out. The show begins promptly at 8:00pm. Suggested donation of $5-$10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds.

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OPEN MIC — Open to all ages + all literary genres: poetry, prose, rap, music, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time! You can only sign up for either the open mic *or* the poetry slam.

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Questions? Leave a comment, DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com

INTRODUCING THE 2026 PROVIDENCE POETRY SLAM TEAM

CHRISTA · FEBO · JUSTICE · MICHAELIS · RENÉ

OPEN MIC ft. TATIANA JOHNSON-BORIA! — Head on down to AS220 Main Stage (@as220providence) on Thursday, May 7th for an all-ages, multi-genre open mic and feature from Tatiana Johnson-Boria (@tatianajboria), author of Nocturne in Joy, winner of the Julia Ward Howe Book Prize in Poetry.

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OPEN MIC — Doors open and sign-ups begin at 7:00 PM. Show begins right at 8:00 PM. Suggested donation of $5 to $10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds! Open to all ages & open to all literary & music genres: poetry, prose, rap, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time!

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QUESTIONS? — DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com! To learn more, visit provslam.org!

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ABOUT OUR FEATURE — Tatiana Johnson-Boria (she/her) is the author of Nocturne in Joy (2023), winner of the 2024 Julia Ward Howe Book Prize in Poetry. As an educator, artist, facilitator, and mother; she uses her writing practice to dismantle racism, reckon with trauma, cultivate healing, and to explore the complex magic of mothering. She has received fellowships and awards from Tin House, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, MacDowell, the Brother Thomas Fellowship, and St. Botolph Club Foundation, among others. Tatiana is a 2017 Pushcart Prize nominee, teaches at GrubStreet, and has been on faculty at Emerson College, among other institutions. Her work appears or is forthcoming in The Academy of American Poets, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, and more. She is represented by Lauren Scovel at Laura Gross Literary.

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BOOK LAUNCH OF SEX CAMEL BY MUGGS FOGARTY & MINI OPEN MIC — Head down to AS220 Main Stage (@as220providence) on Thursday, April 16th for an all-ages, multi-genre open mic and feature from Muggs Fogarty (@muggsfogarty), former director of the Providence Poetry Slam, and author of Sex Camel (@gameoverbooks, 2026).

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SPECIAL GUESTS — With Charlotte Abotsi (@charlotteabotsi), Chrysanthemum (@chrysanthemvm_), Florence Wallis (@florencewallis), Ilyus Evander (@ilyus.evander), John-Francis Quiñonez (@q_buckaroo), Justice Ameer (@thejusticeameer), Kleo Sincere (@kleosincere), and Naffisatou Koulibaly (@n.affisatou)!

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SCHEDULE — Doors open and sign-ups begin at 7:00 PM. Show begins right at 8:00 PM. Open mic begins around 9:30 PM. Suggested donation of $5 to $10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds!

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MINI OPEN MIC — Open to all ages & open to all literary & music genres: poetry, prose, rap, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time!

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QUESTIONS? — DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com! To learn more, visit provslam.org!

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ABOUT OUR FEATURE — Muggs Fogarty is a writer, performance artist, and vocalist from Providence, Rhode Island. The author of several poetry chapbooks, Muggs is a former director of Providence Poetry Slam and a resident artist of AS220. Muggs can be found fronting music acts Lookers (Almost Ready Records), Bittersweet (Little Lambda Records), their solo loop pedal poetry project (Self Luv Records) and is the host of Chaos Hour on Providence Community Radio. Muggs also practices myofascial bodywork as a cofounder of Angels Collective, a queer multidisciplinary collaborative in Providence.

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OPEN MIC ft. GEORGE ABRAHAM! — Come down to AS220 Main Stage (@as220providence) on Thursday, April 2nd for an all-ages, multi-genre open mic and feature from George Abraham (@intifadabatata), author of Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025).

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OPEN MIC — Doors open and sign-ups begin at 7:00 PM. Show begins right at 8:00 PM. Suggested donation of $5 to $10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds! Open to all ages & open to all literary & music genres: poetry, prose, rap, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time!

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QUESTIONS? — DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com! To learn more, visit provslam.org!

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ABOUT OUR FEATURE — George Abraham (they/هو) is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the Editor-at-Large of Mizna, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025) which was long-listed for the Palestine Book Award. They are a graduate of Northwestern’s Litowitz MFA+MA program, and teach at Amherst College as a Writer-in-Residence.

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GRAND SLAM FINALS! — See you Thursday, March 19th at AS220 Main Stage (@as220providence) as 8 finalists compete for 1 of 5 spots on the 2026 Providence Poetry Slam Team, which will train throughout the spring and summer to represent our city at the 2026 Northbeast Regional Poetry Slam + Festival (@northbeast_regional) in Boston, MA! 🏆

8 poets have qualified for Grand Slam Finals! From Semi-Finals A, we have Christa (@artista.christa), Febo (@thisisfebo), Michaelis (@kk.explicit), René (@renemanuelramos) + from Semi-Finals B, we have Brooke (@brookeignagni946_), Dameien (@spasmoffelings), Jaybird (@jaybirdewalker), Justice (@thejusticeameer)! 🗣️

Doors open + sign-ups for an abbreviated open mic goes out at 7:00pm. The show begins at 8:00 pm. Suggested donation of $5-$10. No one’s turned away for a lack of funds. The short open mic will be after Grand Slam Finals! 📆

OPEN MIC — This show features an abbreviated open mic for all ages + all genres: poetry, prose, rap, music, more! No covers, original work only. You have up to 5 minutes — please be considerate of time! 🎤

POETRY SLAM — In these literary competitions, poets perform their own original work using no props, costumes, or musical accompaniment. 5 random judges selected from the audience score each poem from 0.0 to 10.0. This will be the final qualifying poetry slam of the 2025-2026 season until September 2026! ⏰

UPCOMING SHOWS:

Open Mic ft. George Abraham (@intifadabatata) - April 2nd, 2026
Open Mic ft. Book Release of Sex Camel by Muggs Fogarty (@muggsfogarty) - April 16th, 2026
Open Mic ft. Tatiana Johnson Boria (@tatianajboria) - May 7th, 2026

•B O O K 🤍 P A R T Y•

I’m going home to @provslam to launch this expanded edition of Sex Camel, out today via @gameoverbooks 🤍 Come celebrate @as220providence on Thursday, April 16th, 2026

with support from:
@charlotteabotsi
@chrysanthemvm_
@thejusticeameer
@ilyus.evander
@q_buckaroo
@kleosincere
@n.affisatou
@florencewallis

•B O O K 🤍 P A R T Y•

I’m going home to @provslam to launch this expanded edition of Sex Camel, out today via @gameoverbooks 🤍 Come celebrate @as220providence on Thursday, April 16th, 2026

with support from:
@charlotteabotsi
@chrysanthemvm_
@thejusticeameer
@ilyus.evander
@q_buckaroo
@kleosincere
@n.affisatou
@florencewallis

•B O O K 🤍 P A R T Y•

I’m going home to @provslam to launch this expanded edition of Sex Camel, out today via @gameoverbooks 🤍 Come celebrate @as220providence on Thursday, April 16th, 2026

with support from:
@charlotteabotsi
@chrysanthemvm_
@thejusticeameer
@ilyus.evander
@q_buckaroo
@kleosincere
@n.affisatou
@florencewallis

•B O O K 🤍 P A R T Y•

I’m going home to @provslam to launch this expanded edition of Sex Camel, out today via @gameoverbooks 🤍 Come celebrate @as220providence on Thursday, April 16th, 2026

with support from:
@charlotteabotsi
@chrysanthemvm_
@thejusticeameer
@ilyus.evander
@q_buckaroo
@kleosincere
@n.affisatou
@florencewallis

💅🏾 OPEN MIC ft. BRIANA CROCKETT — Head to AS220 Main Stage (@as220providence) on Thursday, March 5th for an all-ages, multi-genre open mic and feature from Briana Crockett (@moccahontas_), author of A Body of Want, a Galaxy of Other Trinkets (Game Over Books, 2025).

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OPEN MIC — Doors open and sign-ups begin at 7:00 PM. Show begins right at 8:00 PM. Suggested donation of $5 to $10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds! Open to all ages & open to all literary & music genres: poetry, prose, rap, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time!

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QUESTIONS? — DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com! To learn more, visit provslam.org!

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ABOUT OUR FEATURE — Briana Crockett is a Boston native that has too many jackets and not enough space. She is a neighborhood activist, a learner, a foodie, a joke teller/laugh influencer, a self-taught hair stylist and wig maker for the fun of it. Briana Is a reality tv lover, purely for the study of relationships and people. There is a story in everything. She believes the same in poetry. She’s a griot. Her poetry is a reflection of her culture, history, community, language, imagination, and power in giving a voice to the human experience. Though she may not write every day, she believes poems are essential to the way she sees the world and interacts with everyday life. She’s involved with the poetry scene in Boston. Briana has participated in Button Poetry’s Publishers Slam in 2021 and 2023, performed on GBH Boston’s Outspoken Saturdays, performed as apart of Boston Poetry Slam Organization, and various other Boston artist and activist spaces. She published a chapbook The Growing Place (2020) and an ebook When the World Stopped//We Were Still Beautiful. Her next book A Body of Want: A Galaxy of Other Trinkets is her second full length poetry book in print. She can be found talking with her hands (nails long) and on a tangent. You can find her listening to music, taking pictures of flowers, and hoarding hot sauce. If she were a poem, she’d be a Def Jam freestyle in 2004 probably performed by Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) or sung by Jill Scott. 

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SEMI-FINAL SLAM B + OPEN MIC! — See you Thursday, February 19th at @AS220providence Main Stage for Semi-Finals B, where the top competitors from September and October’s qualifiers will battle it out! ✨ 8 poets compete. 4 advance to Grand Slam Finals in March!

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MEET THE SEMI-FINALISTS: Brooke (@brookeignagni946_). Chris (@ckmckennapibb). Dameien (@spasmoffelings). Jaybird (@jaybirdewalker). Joshua (@joshuahblaine). Justice (@thejusticeameer). Kelsey (@tootifrootidjibouti). Walter (@walter.albizures).

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At 7:00 PM, doors to AS220 Main Stage open, + sign-up lists for both Open Mic + Team Qualifier Poetry Slam #1 go out. The show begins promptly at 8:00pm. Suggested donation of $5-$10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds.

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OPEN MIC — Open to all ages + all literary genres: poetry, prose, rap, music, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time! You can only sign up for either the open mic *or* the poetry slam.

🎤

POETRY SLAM — A literary competition in which poets perform their own original work using no props, costumes, or musical accompaniment. 5 random judges from the audience score each poem from 0.0 to 10.0.

This week’s slam is *NOT* an open slam. Instead, it is a Semi-Final slam that convenes the Top 4 poets from Team Qualifier #3 in December and the Top 4 poets from Team Qualifier #4 in January. The Top 4 of Semi Final B advance to compete for a spot on the team at Grand Slam Finals on March 19th, 2025.

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UPCOMING SHOW DATES:

Open Mic ft. Briana Crockett - March 5th, 2026
Grand Slam Finals - March 19th, 2026
Open Mic ft. George Abraham - April 2nd, 2026
Open Mic ft. Muggs Fogarty’s Sex Camel Book Release - April 16th, 2026

Questions? Leave a comment, DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com

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🫶🏾 OPEN MIC ft. BRYNNA BOYD — Head to AS220 Main Stage (@as220providence) on Thursday, February 5th, 2026* for an all-ages, multi-genre open mic and feature from Brynna Boyd (@brynna_boyd), the 2024 Boston Poetry Slam Champion!

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OPEN MIC — Doors open and sign-ups begin at 7:00 PM. Show begins right at 8:00 PM. Suggested donation of $5 to $10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds! Open to all ages & open to all literary & music genres: poetry, prose, rap, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time!

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QUESTIONS? — DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com! To learn more, visit provslam.org!

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ABOUT OUR FEATURE — Brynna Boyd (she/her) is a writer from Texas. Currently based in Boston, she is the 2024 Boston Poetry Slam Champion, and was on the winning team for the 2024 Northbeast regional slam and 2025 VOX POP Team Slam. She has always had a love for writing and has found community through sharing her work at slams, open mics, and local writing groups. Her work is published in places such as Clitbait Feminist Blog, Molecule Mag, The Trident Poetry Collective Anthologies: The Heartbreaks and With Gritted Teeth, Shooting Stars At Sky–The Poetry of Play, and displayed proudly in the homes of her friends and family. She is the author of a zine, Plantation Fires, that explores protest, identity, and ancestry. Brynna teaches middle school creative writing, and finds great joy in helping students explore their creative power. Her writing is informed by her lived experiences, readings, musings of better worlds, and the everyday. When she’s not writing or teaching, you’ll find her at thrift stores, book shops, and searching for the best fries in town. The best way to keep up with her is on Instagram: @brynna_boyd or find her for a fresh yappuccino! 

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OPEN MIC + LAST CHANCE SLAM!— Join us Thursday, January 15th at @AS220providence Main Stage! This is your FINAL chance to qualify for Semi-Finals B. Want to compete in the poetry slam? Read below *carefully* for instructions!

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At 7:00 PM, doors to AS220 Main Stage open, + sign-up lists for both Open Mic + Team Qualifier Poetry Slam #4 go out. The show begins promptly at 8:00pm. Suggested donation of $5-$10. No one’s turned away for lack of funds.

🎊

OPEN MIC — Open to all ages + all literary genres: poetry, prose, rap, music, more! No covers, original work only. You have 5 minutes — please be considerate of time! You can only sign up for either the open mic *or* the poetry slam.

🎤

POETRY SLAM — A literary competition in which poets perform their own original work using no props, costumes, or musical accompaniment. 5 random judges from the audience score each poem from 0.0 to 10.0.

⏰

IMPORTANT RULES FOR SLAM COMPETITORS:

* Capped at 8 poets — first come, first served
* Line begins at door between AS220 Bar & AS220 Main Stage
* To compete, come early *before* 7 PM — don’t cut the line
* Competitor round-up (check-in) & draw for slam order is at 7:30 PM
* To compete, you must be 18+ years old
* To compete, bring 3 poems under 3 minutes — 3rd poem is for a tiebreaker
- Our slam has 2 rounds with eliminations — in Round 1, all 8 poets compete, then top 6 scores advance to Round 2
- Top 4 poets advance to Semi-Finals A on February 19th, 2025
- Top poets from Semi-Finals A + Semi-Finals B compete for a spot on the team at Grand Slam Finals on March 19th, 2025
- Questions? Leave a comment, DM us or email providencepoetryslam@gmail.com

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UPCOMING POETRY SLAM & OPEN MIC DATES:

Semi-Finals B - February 19th, 2026
Grand Slam Finals - March 19th, 2026

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UPCOMING FEATURE & OPEN MIC DATES:

February 5th, 2026 - Brynna Boyd
March 5th, 2026 - Briana Crockett
April 2nd, 2026 - George Abraham

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