WE SPEAK

Overview

Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA) invites youth (ages 13-21) living in the Puget Sound region to enter for their chance to perform on the ECA stage during WE SPEAK – our annual celebration of spoken word poetry and storytelling – and receive a $1,000 scholarship! To enter, submit video samples of an original spoken word performance responding to this year’s WE SPEAK theme: The stories we tell.

2025 Theme & Prompts

Tell us a story that is meaningful to you.

You may choose to respond to the themes of Identity, Injustice, and Mental Health. You may want to tell us what community means to you.
Do you have reflections on the history of slam poetry? Are you passionate about politics, the environment, or giving voice to marginalization?
Perhaps you have a story about something or someone we haven’t even thought of. Tell us a story…as only you can.

Three finalists will be selected to perform their work LIVE from the ECA Stage during WE SPEAK on Thursday, May 1, 2025. The deadline to submit materials is Monday, March 10 by 11:59PM.

About WE SPEAK

ECA’s annual WE SPEAK is a celebration of spoken word poetry and storytelling. The evening integrates critically acclaimed artists alongside talented local youth, providing a platform for artists to respond to issues that impact themselves, their communities, and the world. Past WE SPEAK artists include celebrated poets Anastacia-Reneé, Shane Koyczan, Steve Connell, Ivan Coyote, Kealoha, and. Chelsey Richardson.

How to Enter the Youth Poetry Slam Competition

Youth participants must be between the ages of 13 and 21, as of May 1, 2025, and live in the Puget Sound region.
Create a video recording of 1-2 ORIGINAL spoken-word pieces. The entire video should be 10 minutes or under.
Get creative! You may use costumes, props, music, and visual aids to share your spoken word performance. Please keep in mind, if you are a finalist, the performance elements in your video clip need to match the final performance.
Fill out and submit this application form.
Share the link to your video recording in the application or upload it here.
Submission Deadline: March 10, 2025 by 11:59PM.

Evaluation Criteria

We are looking for your best spoken word performance in the language that you are most comfortable with! Spoken word is a term that applies to any type of poetry intended to be performed aloud. Spoken word has roots in traditions of oral performance that go back to times before the written word. It is an oral art that focuses on the quality of sound structure and patterns that make it compelling to the listener, often using rhyme, repetition, different voice inflections, and word play. It can contain elements of poetry, rap, hip-hop, storytelling, theater, dance, and music.

Video spoken word submissions will be evaluated on:

The poems’ relevance to the 2025 themes and prompt.
Creativity and originality.
Rhythm and pacing.
Vocal inflection.
Coherence of form and structure.
Clarity of imagery and language.

Finalists

The 2025 Youth Poetry Slam Competition winner will be chosen based on their video submission. The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship. The second and third-place winners will each receive a $500 scholarship.

All three finalists will perform their work LIVE on the ECA Stage, during WE SPEAK, on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30PM.

Finalists will participate in a workshop at ECA in the weeks before the performance with a local poet mentor, TBA.

Questions?

Please contact Diana@ec4arts.org if you have any questions about the competition or submission process.

Spoken word performances must be of original composition by the author reading or performing the work in the video. Plagiarism is grounds for immediate dismissal from the competition. If you are under the age of 18, you must have permission from a parent or legal guardian to participate. Please message us if you have any technical issues with your upload and we will do our best to find a workaround.