SAYS Slam Season

Each year, hundreds of Sacramento area students compete in local poetry competitions, or slams; ultimately, a team of six students from SAYS compete at the International Brave New Voices competition. All area students ages 13–19 are encouraged to compete.

Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS) has been the leading organization for youth poetry in Sacramento since 2010. Over the past 15 years, SAYS has hosted more than 15 poetry slam seasons and engaged over 100,000 young people, providing a platform for youth to express themselves, share their stories, and amplify their voices. SAYS teams have achieved national recognition, ranking 3rd in the nation in 2018 and 4th in 2023 at the Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival. Through transformative events and programs, SAYS continues to inspire and empower the next generation of leaders and artists.

SLAM GUIDELINES

• Participating artists must be in between the ages of 13-19

• Each person must have at least 2 original poems prepared for the competition

• All students must begin their entry by attending AT LEAST ONE PRELIMINARY bout in order to advance into semis & the finals. If you do not advance in one prelim, you can participate in as many prelims as you want to.

• Each person has 3 minutes ( with a thirty second grace period) to read one piece. If the poet goes over time (3 min, 30sec), points will be deducted from the total score.

• Participating artists may not use props or musical instruments

• Poets receive scores from 5 judges, the high and the low are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving a total score of 0-30

SAYS GUIDELINES 

1. One Mic

2. Loud N Proud

3. Standard is Yourself

4. No Wrong Answers/Questions 

5. Don't Let Fear Conquer You

6. Step Up... Step Back

7. Patience, Respect & above all , Love.

SLAM JUDGES CRITERIA

• Did you have a visceral reaction to the students piece?

• Was it personal? Political? Powerful?

• Did the student have a well-rounded stage presence?

• Did they demonstrate the power of spoken word and hip hop literacy-using a minimum amount of words to have a maximum impact?

SAYS SLAM WINNERS

6 students who receive the highest scores will represent the Capital Region at the International Poetry Festival, Brave New Voices. In preparation for BNV, the SAYS Slam Team will practice weekly with SAYS Slam coach, participate in community-based events, and feature in special showcases in the greater Sacramento area!

If you’re interested in hosting a poetry slam at your site, please reach out to Denisha “Coco” Bland at djbland@ucdavis.edu.