What a night of poetry at Aspects Festival! We had an amazing time under the big marquee tent at Project 24, Bangor - one fantastic slam, support sets from Chris McLaughlin and David Braziel (both on absolutely TOP form) and a real treat in the festival teaming us up with the one and only Polarbear.

It was great to see so many faces, new and old, at the event, and we thank all our entrants and finalists (in the order their names were drawn out of the hat):
Dave Wilson, Judith Lowans Thurley, Patricia Devlin-Hill, Anthony Ferguson, Colin Hassard, Diane Morrison, Ian Campbell, Paul Daniel Rafferty, Patrick McNicholl, Lara Sunday, Laura Cameron, Joel Auterson, Charlotte Higgins and Ross Thompson.

Five poets went through to the final round, the top two going on to compete in the Ulster stage of the All Ireland Poetry Slam next Friday. In what was an incredibly close final, we had three poets tie for third place(!): Joel Auterson, Colin Hassard, and Judith Thurley.

Meaning that in second place was the fantastic Patricia Devlin-Hill, and the winner, a Bangor resident himself, ROSS THOMPSON.

Good luck to Patricia and Ross in the All-Ulster heat. We want to thank our guest judge Peter Adair who joined us at the judges' table, all the support staff and volunteers on the night, Aspects for allowing us to come back and slam with them once more, Ards and North Down Borough Council, and especially festival director Patricia Hamilton.

Poetry never stops, and indeed, we are back at Crescent Arts Centre on Friday 2nd October for more open mic goodness. We hope some of our new friends from Bangor can join us then. See you soon!

After arranging exciting regional heats in Belfast and Tyrone, Poetry NI is very excited to be teaming up with Aspects Festival to extend a new regional heat into Bangor, giving YOU another chance to get into the All Ireland Poetry Slam!

Now in its 24th year, Aspects continues to present a diverse and exciting programme showcasing the wealth of local talent along with Aspects favourites and special guests, from spoken word to crime, theatre to comics and from history to poetry.

Anyone buying a ticket to the slam will also gain entry to see the energetic and highly entertaining Polarbear, one of the most respected spoken word artists in the UK, with support from David Braziel and Chris McLaughlin.

The event takes place on 7.30pm, Saturday 26th September at the Festival Marquee Tent, Project 24, Bangor Marina. This is a first stage event in selecting Ireland's top eight poets. Two winners will go through to an All-Ulster final (Fri 2nd October - Enniskillen - Blakes of the Hollow), joining the winners of other regional heats across Ulster. From there, two winners join six other poets from across Connacht, Leinster, Munster in the grand final, which this year will be held in Belfast. One poet will walk away with the prestigious crown of All Ireland Poetry Slam Champion. 

HOW TO ENTER:
Sign up will be at the start of the night. Places are limited, so first come, first served. Names will be drawn out of the hat at random and poets will be called on stage. You have a maximum of three minutes in which to read your poem.
Our judges will be scoring on two areas: delivery of the poem, and composition.

RULES:
Any poet that goes over the three minute time limit will be eliminated.
No props or musical accompaniment.
All poems must be your own work and read on your own- no duets/group pieces.

Good luck everyone!
£5 entry

Well, what a night that was! Two slams running concurrently in Belfast and Strabane, both regional heats for the All Ireland Poetry Slam. First stop: Belfast.

First of all: what a crowd. We were SOLD OUT, at maximum capacity. The reception at Crescent Arts Centre even ran out of tickets to print, that's how awesome YOU were in coming out and supporting all the poets. Thank you so much. And then of course, we had the poets!

Competing in the first round, we had:
Peter Adair, Patricia Devlin-Hill, David Davies, Joan Jewel, Sarah R'dek, Dympha Ferran, Ruby Sinnamon, Andrew Beattie and Michael Walker.

Our semi-finalists included:
Michael Wilson, Elizabeth McGeown, Tanya Hanna and Anthony Ferguson...

And our four finalists...
Fourth place went to: Ray Givans
Third place: Dave Wilson (his first time EVER reading in public, what a night for him!)
Second place, and first Belfast representative for the All Ulster Final: David Braziel
And joining David in the Ulster stage, our BELFAST SLAM CHAMPION 2015 is Rory Jones!

Well done to everyone. Rory and David now go onto the Ulster stage in Enniskillen on Friday 2nd October, competing against all the other Ulster winners for a chance in the grand final where the top eight poets from around Ireland (two from each province). will slam to find out the overall winner. We've provisionally booked the final for 27th November, happening in Belfast, and we've have more details and confirmation of that very soon.

Joining David and Rory will be STRABANE SLAM CHAMPION 2015 Mel Bradley and runner up Lynn Mary-Lou! Well done to all of you, and many thanks go to Chris McLaughlin for running our Strabane leg of the competition.

We're having another chance for two poets to get through to the All-Ulster stage at Aspects Festival, where we will host the North Down heat on Saturday 26th September. Look out for the event page and more details on here shortly

A big thanks also to the teams at the Crescent Arts Centre and The Alley Theatre for their support in running both gigs. And to our guest judges in Belfast, Mark Cooper and David Smylie.

Poetry NI and Aspects Festival are teaming up to bring you the North Down heat of the All Ireland Poetry Slam. Join us at 7.30pm on Saturday 26th September in the Festival Marquee, down at Project 24 in Bangor Marina.

Now in its 24th year, Aspects runs from 23rd - 27th September, offering a diverse and exciting programme showcasing the wealth of local talent along with Aspects favourites and special guests. The events range from spoken word to crime, theatre to comics and from history to poetry.

Bring your poems from page to stage and enter our live event, at which poets read original work. Just register at the start of the night if you want to enter, with names being drawn out from the hat at random to read. You have three minutes to compete in, and our judges will score who goes through to the next round. The outright winner will be crowned ‘Aspects Poetry Slam Champion’!

As a special deal with Aspects, anyone who buys a ticket for our slam also gets into see Polarbear, one of the most respected spoken word artists in the UK, performing immediately after the slam at 9pm in the marquee. So essentially you get two great poetry events, one fantastic evening of poetry, for only a fiver.

We doubly pleased to announced that poets David Braziel and Christopher Mclaughlin will be supporting Polarbear, furthering the festival's commitment, and our own, to promote local talent.

It's almost slam time again! For the fifth year running, Purely Poetry is proud to host the Belfast heat of the All Ireland Poetry Slam, this Friday, 4th September, at 9.30pm, in the Crescent Arts Centre.

Concurrently, the Tyrone heat will be hosted by our Purely Poetry Strabane wing, also on Friday, at 8pm in the Alley Theatre.


In a change to this year's championship, these are first stage events in selecting Ireland's top eight poets. Two winners from each will go through to an All-Ulster final (Fri 2nd October - Enniskillen - Blakes of the Hollow)

They will be joining the winner of other regional heats across Ulster. From there, two winners join six other poets from across Connacht, Leinster, Munster in the grand final, which this year will be held in Belfast. One poet will walk away with the prestigious crown of All Ireland Poetry Slam Champion. 

HOW TO ENTER:
Just like in our regular open mic nights, sign up at the start of the night. Places are limited, so first come, first served. Names will be drawn out of the hat at random and poets will be called on stage. You have a maximum of three minutes in which to read your poem.

There are three rounds, scored by our judging team. Eight poets will get through to our second round, and four go through to the final. Our judges will be scoring on two areas: delivery of the poem, and composition.

RULES:
Any poet that goes over the three minute time limit will be eliminated.
No props.
No musical accompaniment.
All poems must be your own work.
All poems must be read on your own- no duets/group pieces.
Any breaking of the rules leads to disqualification!

Good luck everyone!