Australia’s biggest live poetry event is back

This year, the heart of Western Sydney beats louder than ever. Join us in the Concert Hall as Bankstown Poetry Slam proudly presents the Grand Slam, a one-night-only celebration of community, creativity and collective power.

After a fiercely competitive 2025 season, the top-scoring poets from Bankstown Poetry Slam’s monthly events will take the stage in random teams of four. The competitors will open for an all-star lineup of featured artists including bestselling author Maxine Beneba Clarke; rapper and drummer DOBBY; writer and performer Aranzta Garcia; writer, editor and educator Hasib Hourani; poet and essayist Jeanine Leane; spoken word artist and recording performer Luka Lesson; and author, rapper and visual artist Omar Musa.

This is more than a poetry slam. It is a tapestry of homegrown stories from some of our generation’s most compelling writers and performers. Witness a moment where our community’s strength, love and resilience rise together under the brightest lights in the country. Across two back-to-back rounds, these poets will bring vulnerability, humour and heart to the big stage verse by verse.

Expect finger-clicking, foot-stomping, heart-racing brilliance infused with the love and solidarity only Bankstown can bring.

Presented by Sydney Opera House and Bankstown Poetry Slam.

2026 GrandSlam LIVESTREAM at Bankstown Arts Centre

If you cannot attend the Sydney Opera House Grand Slam, we are opening up an exclusive FREE Livestream screening of the event (as it is happening!) at Bankstown Arts Centre.

If you would like to attend the watch party, register now*: https://forms.gle/yGuMjpcFPHBg2kkP9

*Registrations for each attendee are essential. Event details will be emailed directly to attendee.