Slam-o-Vision is the UNESCO Cities of Literature Network’s answer to Eurovision, but for slam poetry – a Global Poetry Slam between spoken word artists. All 42 Cities of Literature were eligible to send in entries, and whoever wins gets to host the competition next year.

Manchester were very proud to host Slam-o-Vision in 2021, after our entry was the joint winner with Quebec City in 2020. We opened our entries in August and were so pleased with the Manchester entries this year. Not only was the quality exceptionally high, but every entry was from a poet that Manchester City of Literature haven’t worked with before.

It was tough and a long chat, but after much deliberation, the panel selected Carson Wolfe as the Manchester Entry. As Nottingham City of Literature won last year, they hosted this year’s event and created a hybrid event where people could attend in person, but anyone internationally could stream the event online.

Carson went head to head with entries from seven other Cities of Literature; Exeter, Iowa City, Kuhmo, Ljubljana, Nottingham, Quebec City and Vilnius. There were some brilliant performances from local Nottingham based artists throughout the day and last year’s winner performed for us as well.

It was a brilliant evening with some amazing talent showcased and we want to thank Nottingham City of Literature for their excellent hosting.

The stream of the Grand Finale is available to watch here, it’s just over two hours and is an excellent use of your time.

[Don’t look after the video if you don’t want to know who won]

Massive congratulations to Abiodun ‘Abbey’ Abdul and Nottingham City of Literature for their second Slam-o-Vision win, Strong Tea is excellent and was really well performed. We’re already looking forward to next year.