San José Poetry Slam – 2026 San José Poetry Festival Edition

The 12th Annual San José Poetry Festival opens with bang—some spoken word competition and a headlining set from legendary performance poet Reggie Edmonds-Vasquez!

This is Day One of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 2026 San José Poetry Festival. Most live events and online events are free to the public, except for the Lee Herrick Writing Workshop and the San José Poetry Slam. Some require tickets due to limited seating.

Admission: $5–10 sliding scale, tickets available here and in person. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Poetry Center San José presents San José Poetry Slam – Live In Person!

Come join us for poetry and some of the most delicious pizza in San José at our new venue in Willow Glen:

Wheelhouse of Willow Glen
1173 Lincoln Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125

Sunday, August 16, 2026
Doors open and the sign up list goes out at 6:30pm
The Poetry Slam starts at 7:00pm

Hosted by Scorpiana Xlent.

Our Featured Poet

Reggie Edmonds-Vásquez (they/them) is a poet, educator, and cultural curator from Richmond, CA. Their work explores Black, queer, and gender-diverse identities and has earned recognition from Nomadic Press, Afro Urban Society, and the Museum of the African Diaspora. A two-time Berkeley Grand Champion and national finalist, they direct programming at Rich Oak Events.

Find them on IG: @reggiepoetry

Poetry Slam Competition Info

Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

If you have never been to a Poetry Slam before, a poetry slam is a competition, imagine spoken word poetry as an olympic sport. The rules are simple:

1.) Poets must use their own poems.
2.) poet must use only one poem per round.
3.) no musical accompaniment.
4.) no props.
5.) there is a time limit of 3 minutes and 10 seconds. going over that will result in a time penalty.

This is a two-round slam, poets with the highest scores will move up to round two.
If you're not competing, we could use judges.

Please remember to submit a quick audience survey to help us improve our logistics and content and report to our funders and sponsors. Here is the link to the survey: Link to come

Follow Poetry Center San José on Facebook and Instagram for announcements about other amazing South Bay poetry events happening throughout the rest of the year. Help support Poetry Center San José by becoming a member.

San José Poetry Festival 2026 is presented by Poetry Center San José and sponsored in part by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council; and additional support from Anne & Mark’s Art Party and the Brandenburg Family Foundation. Many thanks to Four Points by Sheraton for hotel accommodations and Robertino R. Ragazza for his guidance and hospitality. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to past and current venues worthy of your support: San José Stage, Central Park Library Santa Clara, Convergence Arts Center, SJZ Break Room, Art Boutiki (R.I.P.), Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, First Unitarian Church of San José, History/San José, MACLA, Cafe Stritch / Mama Kin (R.I.P.), Recycle Bookstore, The School of Arts and Culture (R.I.P.), Mexican Heritage Plaza, Tabard Theatre (R.I.P.), Willow Glen Public Library, Works/San José art & performance center and Hillbrook Upper School of San José. Please support these spaces however you can. And we thank all our volunteers whose time and effort make this festival possible.