Free seasonal after-school programming. This is a space to experience, discuss, and write poems! No prior experience needed. You can expect generative prompts, feedback, and snacks as we create new work.

Gather with other poets to share your rough drafts, rants, unfinished ideas, and brand new brilliance. We celebrate and practice moving our work from the page into our bodies, and then out into the world.

Creative leadership cohort where participants grow as poets and organizers. In addition to creative opportunities, interns will take on active role in planning and staffing our Open Mics and Poetry Slam Series. Applications open in September 2023.

Poets compete with original work without accompaniment in timed poetry slams. We hold Qualifying slams that lead into our Grand Slam competition to determine who will win a free trip to represent Seattle on our Brave New Voices team.

An international Youth Poetry Festival organized by Youth Speaks San Francisco. 5 poets from our Grand Slam write together for 3 months to develop their own narratives and collaborative poems about Seattle. The team gets to meet, build, and dream with other creative change makers from across the world.

Our poets create work in the moment, dedicated to and inspired by community members. A mix of poetry journalism, poetry witnessing, and poetry gifting. Invite us to your next art walk, mutual aid event, or festival.

We are on the Seattle Public Schools Creative Advantage roster, and can bring a workshop set or extended residency to SPS classrooms at no cost.

Youth poetry organizations travel to University of Wisconsin-Madison for a college interest trip. Students see the First Wave full tuition Scholarship program through creative workshops and performances.

This program brings guest poet facilitators to our community. We love to feature Youth Speaks Seattle and Brave New Voices Alumni who come back to share workshops on new forms, performance techniques, and publications.