Each year, Portland area youth spend months writing and competing in poetry slam competitions on high school campuses across the city. And each April, 20 finalists compete for the title of city-wide Portland slam champ at Verselandia! in front of an audience of nearly 1,000.  

We’re excited to share that the 2025 Verselandia! competition returns to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Thursday, April 24 at 7 pm. For more information visit our website literary-arts.org.   

This episode, the theme is looking forward and looking back. We’ll look back to the 2024 Verselandia!, hear some of the best poems of the night, and talk to the winner of last year’s competition about what it was like to win and how she’s preparing for this year’s event. We’ll also hear some poems from students competing in this year’s Verselandia. 

We’ll also talk to student poets and educators about how they’re getting ready for this year’s Verselandia and what writing and performing poetry does for the participants.  

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