BAM Slam

BAM Slam Preliminaries is the first day of a two day spoken word poetry competition where 30 award-winning poets from around the country to compete for over a $1000 in prizes.There will be two preliminary bouts happening at 7:30 pm and another at 9:30 pm. On Saturday, March 9th, judges will select 12 poets to compete for the top prize of $1,000. Alongside the slam there will be other live performances. This event is free to the public and will be catered by a local Black owned caterer.

Doors will open for this event at 7:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public. Seating will be by general admission.

About BAM Fest Producer Shasparay Lighteard

Shasparay Lighteard is a performing artist from Austin, Texas, who is currently the 10th Ranked Poet in the World. Currently pursuing a B.A. in Theatre and African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she is a recipient of the First Wave Urban Arts Full Scholarship. While a high school student she was a speaker at the 2016 TEDxYouth Austin conference and earned a National NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medal. Shasparay has been a finalist in a myriad of slam competitions such as Women of the World Poetry Slam, Southern Fried Poetry Slam, Texas Grand Slam and is the two-time Lip Stick Wars Poetry Slam Champion. Shasparay has also been featured on Button Poetry, Youth Speaks, BuzzFeed, and Huffington Post.