Text graphic reading "National Youth Poetry Slam" with "National Youth" in large light green letters and "Poetry Slam" in smaller letters on a black background.
People in the audience expressing excitement and joy at an event in a dimly lit room with purple lighting.

STEP INTO THE ARENA

SPEAK YOUR TRUTH

SHATTER THE CEILING

SUBMISSIONS OPEN

FOR 2026

Entries are OPEN for the National Youth Poetry Slam 2026.

For the fifth year in a row, we’re accepting video submissions from poets all over Australia, 24 and under. 

The top poets in the country will compete in the NYPS finale in November, held in Sydney (venue dropping soon). Not from NSW? Not a problem! We’ll set you up with flights and accommodation. 

All you have to do is write a poem, record yourself performing it, and send it to us. Seasoned poet or not, we want to hear what’s on your mind. What’s fuelling your heart. What does it mean to love, exist, and resist as a young person in 2026? No issue is too small, no voice too loud 🎤

To enter, fill out the form below. If you have a performance recorded on Bankstown Poetry Slam’s YouTube from THIS YEAR, you can link your performance in your submission! 

Submit your poem before midnight, Wednesday 23rd of September 🍉 💫

SUBMIT TO NYPS 2026

ABOUT NYPS 2026

Proudly presented by Bankstown Poetry Slam, NYPS is a one-night only nationwide competition that celebrates Australia’s most urgent voices. These young poets, aged 8–24 years old, are already caretakers of culture in their respective communities. With fierce love and vulnerability, their spoken-word poetry rummages through a ravaged world for reasons to rejoice, recollect, reimagine and reconnect. 

Prepare to be moved by their passionate perspectives on cultural identity, social justice and solidarity, mental health, climate and technological crises and more. 

Listen closely. Leave with your heart open.

2025

WINNERS

Group of five diverse people standing on a stage with medals around their necks, smiling, at a poetry competition or event.
Audience members sitting in theater seats, clapping and watching a performance or presentation.
A diverse group of young people and adults posing on stage in front of a large screen that reads 'National Youth Poetry Slam.' They are smiling and standing together for a group photo. The stage has a wooden floor and a decorative rug in front of the group.

Dishita Bhattacharya

FIRST PLACE

Ibrahim Munir Ali

SECOND PLACE

Atoc Malou

THIRD PLACE

2026 ENTRY

TERMS & CONDITIONS

  • Any reference to “us” is a reference to Bankstown Poetry Slam.

    By entering the National Youth Poetry Slam 2026, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

    1. Participants must be aged 24 years of age and under (for the duration of the competition) and be residents of Australia in order to be eligible for entry. Participants under the age of 18 years must obtain parent or guardian permission to enter, and must be accompanied by a parent, supervisor or legal guardian over the age of 18 if they are successful in succeeding to the finale.

    2. This competition is for individual entrants only. Group performances will not be accepted.

    3. One video submission per person. Videos must only contain one piece of poetry.

    4. Videos must be no longer than 3:00 minutes in duration. There is no minimum duration.

    5. For an entry to be valid, the entrant must:

      1. Complete the entry form; and

      2. Ensure that the video submission in the entrant’s form is uploaded via a video as an Unlisted YouTube video (recommended), Google Drive link, or simply linking a public social media post that has your poem posted (for example, a public social media account).

    6. Entries must be made online before the submission deadline of 11:59 pm on Wednesday 23rd September 2026.

    7. The participants will be judged on their performances by 5 judges, who will give each performance a score. The average of the scores will be calculated to determine the overall score of the participant. No less than 15, and no more than 20 of the top scoring participants from the online submissions will be invited to participate in the finale.

    8. Participants must be available for the finale on Wednesday 11th November 2026. Finalists will be notified by no later than 14th October 2026 of their success in being a finalist, unless the competition is extended at our discretion, in which case we will notify you as soon as possible if you are a finalist.

    9. For the finale, finalists must have one poem prepared which will be no longer than 3 minutes in length. Anything longer performed on the night will have points deducted. The same poem may be performed for the submission and the finale.

    10. In entering, you guarantee to us that you own the complete, transferable rights to ALL elements of the submission. This includes but is not limited to text, audio, video, and images. 

    11. Poems must be original work. The entrant must not use any music, props or aid of Artificial Intelligence in the submission and performance at the finale. Any such use disqualifies the entrant.

    12. All finalists agree to participate in and cooperate with all reasonable media editorial requests, including but not limited to being interviewed and photographed, and the participants grant us a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use such footage and photographs in all media worldwide and the finalists acknowledge and agree that they will not be entitled to any fee for such use.

    13. Finalists located outside metropolitan Sydney may be eligible for travel reimbursement. Rural NSW and interstate finalists will be supported with reimbursement of the reasonable costs of their flights and accommodation to attend the finale.