The Forward Prize Special Edition

WED 19 FEBRUARY

The Blues Kitchen Manchester

Boisterous slam Night of spoken word and music

One Mic Stand brings together Manchester’s spoken word and music scene in a night of competitive performances. Join us for a wordsmith showdown as the North’s top performance poets take the stage, competing for the title, cash prize, and bragging rights. Check out our lineup of past headliners and judges below!

Applying to slam

Our slam applications usually open a month before the next show - however, for this special edition (19th February 2025), in partnership with the Forward Prize Young Poets Summit, open call applications are closed.

Instead, the top performance poets from Barbican Young Poets, New Writing North, Writer’s Squad, Hive South Yorkshire, and Young Identity will be competing from across the country!

• Original Work Each poem must be of the poet’s own creation
• Three Minutes Each poet gets three minutes (plus a ten-second grace period) to read one poem. If the poet goes over grace time, points will begin to be deducted from the total score.
• No Props Performers are not allowed to employ the use of props during their performance. Just the poet and the stage!
One Mic Stand consists of two rounds. After each poem, the poet receives 2 scores from our three judges. The scores are added together to create their final score, deciding whether or not they will make it to the final round.• Out of 10 for Content• Out of 10 for Performance
The slam consists of two rounds. The poets with the highest scores move on to the next round. The Winner will get the chance to close the night with a final performance.
• First Round 8-10 Poets
• Second Round (Final) 3-4 Poets