The Form Slam will be returning to the 2026 NFSPS convention as a BlackBerry Peach national event. The Form Slam is a poetry slam wherein every poem performed MUST BE a poetic form. No free verse is permitted. Please see the guidelines for what will be accepted as a form poem in this competition.
Registration for this slam is live but only for recognized state society presidents to designate a state representative. After April 15, registration will open for all and will run until 16 slots are filled or June 30th, whichever comes first. Form poems to be used must be submitted in advance (see guidelines).
Registration is free, but we are accepting donations to augment the prize money. The donations received will be used to increase prize money and make it more likely that we will be able to award runners-up. And, as an added perk, all competitors in The Form Slam will have up to 3 poems published by Buster Bodhi Press in the BlackBerry Peach 2026 Form Slam Anthology.
State poetry societies shall have an exclusive period to designate a representative. This period will run until April 15th. The designated poet must be registered to the convention before submitting poems for the competition. Once selected by a state president and registered to attend the NFSPS convention, the poet representative may then submit three to six poems using the format shown in this sample. The state poet representative should send their Form Slam submissions to bbpformslam@gmail.com. Submissions should be in a word doc only, with the heading "2026 NFSPS Form Slam".
Poems submitted improperly formatted or by those unregistered or undesignated will be rejected. ONLY submissions should be sent to the above email. Designating a poet to represent a state poetry society will be made on Zeffy. Questions or feedback about The Form Slam should be sent to this email, noirjente@gmail.com. The poet should prepare their submission as if readying the poems for publication.
After April 15th, The Form Slam competition will be open to all people registered to attend the convention, regardless of state designation.
Again, please consider having your state poetry society donate funds to increase the prize money. Please use the donate button on Zeffy and specify "The Form Slam" on your donation.