Women of the World Poetry Slam

The Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS) is a yearly Poetry Slam tournament put on by Poetry Slam, Inc. that pits individual slam poets from around the world that "live their lives as women"^[1] against one another.

History

In 2008, the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS) was introduced, in which only female and female-identified poets are allowed to compete.^[2] The first WOWPS was held in Detroit, Michigan and the first WOWPS champion was Andrea Gibson.

In late 2015, the languaging around inclusion was updated to read: "Competition at WOWps is limited to poets who live their lives as women. Qualified poets include female assigned or identified individuals who are PSi members and are 18+ years of age, including gender non-conforming individuals."

Format

The tournament has two days of preliminary rounds, in which poets compete in 1, 2, 3, and 4 minute bouts. After these 4 bouts are completed, the poet's rankings in each bout are added up and the top 12 poets of the tournament are invited to compete in the final round. A 3 minute time limit is applied to the poems in the final round.^[4]

Women of the World Poetry Slam Results by Year

Year	Winner	Runners Up	Number of Competitors	Host City
2016	TIE - Imani Cezanne & Emi Mahmoud^[5]	(3) iCon (4) Honey Sanaa (5) Shasparay Lighteard (6) Taylor Steele (7) Rheonna Thornton (8) Elizabeth Acevedo (9) TIE - Crystal Valentine & Confidence & Tanesha Nicole (12) Chrysanthemum Tran	96	Brooklyn, NY
2015	Janae Johnson^[6]	(2) Roya Marsh (3) TIE - Mercedez Holtry & Desiree Dallagiacomo (5) TIE - Taylor Steele & Angelique Palmer & Samira Obeid (8) Confidence Omenai (9) Samantha Peterson (10) FreeQuency (11) Miss Haze (12) Kwene	72	Albuquerque, NM
2014	Dominique Ashaheed^[7]	(2) Imani Cezanne (3) Denice Frohman (4) Carrie Rudzinski (5) Janae Johnson (6) Venessa Marco (7) Melissa May (8) Candace Liger (9) Megan Falley (10) Giddy (11) elizag (12) Erin Claridy	72	Austin, TX
2013	Denice Frohman^[8]	(2) Dominique Ashaheed (3) Falu (4) Porsha Olayiwola (5) Denise Jolly (6) Theresa Davis (7) Eris Zion Venia (8) TIE - T. Miller & Sierra DeMulder & Suzi Q Smith (11) Meg Waldron (12) Laura Lamb Brown-Lavoie	72	Minneapolis, MN
2012	Dominique Ashaheed^[9]	(2) Porsha Olayiwola (3) Kait Rokowski (4) Joanna Hoffman (5) Lauren Zuniga (6) TIE - Olivia Gatwood & Whitney Greenway (8) Melissa May (9) Miss Haze (10) Krista Mosca (11) Kay Kron (12) DeAnn Emett	72	Denver, CO
2011	Theresa Davis^[10]	(2) Gypsee Yo (3) Suzi Q Smith (4) Rachel Wiley (5) T. Miller (6) Safia Elhillo (7) Lacey Roop (8) Franny Choi (9) Joanna Hoffman (10) Tova Charles (11) Mahogany L. Browne (12) Jerrica Escoto	72	Columbus, OH
2010	Eboni Hogan^[11]	(2) Airea "Dee" Matthews (3) Chauncey Beaty (4) Laura Yes Yes (5) Miss Wise (6) Megan Rickman (7) Original Woman (8) Tristan Silverman (9) Nicole Homer (10) Gypsee Yo (11) Sierra DeMulder (12) Hannah	72	Columbus, OH
2009	Rachel McKibbens^[12]^[13]	(2) Gypsee Yo (3) Dee Mathews (4) Ocean (5) T. Miller (6) TIE - Bethsheba & Chauncey Beaty (8) The Original Woman (9) Theresa Davis (10) TIE - Faylita Hicks & Taaj Freeman (12) Red Summer	71	Detroit, MI
2008	Andrea Gibson	(2) Isis (3) T. Miller (4) Nicole Homer (5) Sonya Renee (6) Tara Hardy (7) Karyna McGlynn (8) Original Woman (9) Christena B. (10) Ami Mattison (11) D.E.E.P. (12) Ms. Wise^[14]	70	Detroit, MI

See also

References

External links

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