About Southern Fried Poetry Slam
Southern Fried Poetry Slam is an annual performing arts festival celebrating poetry, spoken word, and community outreach.
Born in 1993 from a sense of family, home cooked meals and good ol’ Southern food, Southern Fried Poetry shares the absolute best southern offerings — hospitality, comfort and tradition.
During the first week of June every year, a city in the Southeastern region of the United States plays host to one of the largest Spoken Word and Performance Poetry tournaments in the world and showcases some of the world’s most extraordinary writers, orators and artists whose talents will be on full display as they compete against 200+ poets for cash and prizes, and of course bragging rights to the South!
Writing Conference Lafayette, LA – Oct 15th -18th 2026
Registration is open! Reserve your spot today!
Southern Fried Poetry Slam
San Antonio, TX
We are headed back to San Antonio, TX June 9th – 12th. Save the date and check back for upcoming information!
Upcoming Workshops
Join us for our next workshop facilitated by El’Ja on Sunday, Dec 6th, 3PM EST on Zoom! More details to follow!
"Preparing the Harvest" - Ayanna Gay
October 4, 2026 – 3PM EST
Join us for our next workshop given by Ayanna Gay!
A poetry workshop centered on the inner work of gathering oneself — pausing to reflect on what has been cultivated, learned, released, and what is ready to be carried into the next season of life.
Through guided reflection, participants will explore the metaphor of “the harvest” as a way of understanding their own lives: what it means to reap the rewards, outcomes, and lessons of seasons of labor, patience, struggle, and growth, and to make meaning from what those seasons have produced.
#SoFriedWrites
In 2023, we started planning several different platforms to support writers outside of busy competition. In an effort to implement this, we are bringing you monthly prompts with guided questions to support you in creating. We encourage you to take the time to write, create, and share. This can be expressed however you are led in written form.
That being said, as we continue to strive to be better stewards to this art thing we do, challenge yourself and your peers to join you in pushing to reach new goals. Let us continue to support each other and most of all, have fun along the way. You can share them with us in the Facebook group, or via email at info@southernfriedpoetryslam.com. Use the hashtag #sofriedwrites. We look forward to seeing your pieces. 💙💙💙
Check back monthly for a new writing prompt!
And your 2026 Orlando, FL winners are…
