We continue to celebrate National Poetry Month with a deep dive into Verselandia!, the annual city-wide high school poetry slam championship. In this week’s episode of The Archive Project, we’ll hear from some of the 2023 competitors, and we’ll follow a few 2024 hopefuls as they compete in their school slams.   

Verselandia! was founded by a visionary team of Portland public high school librarians and educators who ran individual poetry slams at their schools. As the competitions grew, Literary Arts became a partner and the producer of the championship event in April 2012. Now, during the last week of April, National Poetry Month, our annual Verselandia! Youth Poetry Slam Championships draws 1,000 people to cheer on youth poets at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.  

We’ll hear from some of those youth poets over the next hour.   

A quick note to listeners: Portions of this episode contain mature themes that may not be suitable for all audiences.  

Our guide on the road to Verselandia! is our Archive Project producer and editor, Matthew Workman.  

Click here to learn more about Verselandia! 2025.