Official 2026 BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam 
Rules & Structure

The venue for prelims and final stage is NFSPS Annual Convention’s host hotel: DoubleTree by Hilton Kansas City-Overland Park (10100 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210). 

Prelims

There will be two (2) rooms at the venue simultaneously hosting three (3) bouts the first two nights: an early bout from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., a middle bout from 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., and a late bout from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. In other words, there will be a total of six (6) bouts each of the first two nights, twelve (12) prelim bouts total. 

Up to ten (10) poets will compete in each bout. There will be two (2) rounds in each bout, with the order in the first round taking place by random draw and the order in the second round determined by first round finish (high score goes first in second round). 

There will be five (5) judges scoring each poem on a scale of 1 to 10, using one decimal place to give further nuance to the scores. For example, one poem may score a 9 while a slightly better poem may score a 9.1 or 9.2. All five (5) judges will give a score, but the highest score and the lowest score will be dropped. The remaining three (3) scores will be added to give the poet a score for the round. 

The scores for each of the two (2) rounds will be added together and the highest cumulative score shall be given a ranking of 1, the next highest a ranking of 2, and so on, with the lowest cumulative score awarded a ranking of 11. After two (2) nights of prelims, the twelve (12) highest ranked poets (lowest numbers) will advance to the Finals with the 13th highest poet serving as the sacrificial poet to begin finals rounds. 

Poems may not be repeated in any prelim round, including any tie break round.

Finals

Finals will be held on Saturday night in the host hotel. Finals will consist of three (3) rounds by the top twelve (12) poets with the 13th highest poet serving as sacrificial poet. 

Scores are cumulative for the last two (2) rounds only; the second round will begin with a clean slate. The highest cumulative scoring poets wins.

Order in the first round will be by random draw. Order in the second and third round will be determined based on the cumulative scores of the poets, from high score to low score. 

After the first round, the highest eight (8) scoring poets progress to the second round. After the second round the top four (4) scoring poets advance to the final round. 

Poems from prelims may be repeated in the Finals. 

Ties

All ties in the competition will be broken if they impact the order of the following round, the prelim rankings that determine the final stage, or the final four placements. Ties will be broken by bringing back in the highest and lowest scores of the poets and rounds in question. 

If there is still a tie, we will drop only the lowest score of the poets and rounds in question. If there is still a tie, we will bring back the lowest score and instead drop the highest score of the poets and rounds in question. 

If there is still a tie and the tie determines the order of the next round, the poet who went first will go second. 

If there is still a tie and the tie determines final stage poets, both poets will move onto the final stage. 

If there is still a tie and the tie determines final placement, the poets can decide to be co-champions or compete in one final tie-breaking round.

Rules
First and foremost, we believe that every person has the right to equitable access and inclusion in any event we host or oversee. Therefore, at every stage of the competition, from selection to finals stage, every individual will be treated with the respect due to them, and every effort will be made to ensure that access and representation are guaranteed to all without bias.

That said, the fundamental rules of slam have been the same for over a quarter of a century, and they break down to four simple guidelines: 

All poems must be the poet’s original work. You may sample another poem or song in your writing or include an epigraph with credit to the original author. No more than 20 seconds of your poem may consist of this sampling and again, it should be credited. 

There are no props allowed. 

There is no musical accompaniment allowed. 

There are no costumes allowed.

All poems throughout the preliminary rounds of the competition will be three (3) minutes with a ten (10) second grace period. Poems longer than 3:10 will be penalized 0.5 points for every ten (10) seconds or part of ten (10) seconds over the time limit. 

Poems done during Finals will be penalized similarly except the time limit during finals will be three (3) minutes with a twenty (20) second grace period.

Final Stage Prizes

• 1st place: $2,000 + U.S. Representative at the 2027 WPSO World Poetry Slam in Tokyo
• 2nd place: $1,000
• 3rd place: $500
• 4th place: $250
• 5th through 12th: $125
• 13th (aka Sacrificial): $100