All Voices Rising Programming is Free.
Voices Rising is Chicharra's youth poetry program, creating free opportunities for young writers to write, perform, learn from working poets, meet other young artists, and discover just how many ways there are to make a life with poetry.
Open to young poets ages 13–20, Voices Rising brings workshops, performance opportunities, community, and the Southwest Regional Youth Poetry Slam together as part of Chicharra Poetry Festival.
Whether you've been performing for years, write poems that nobody else has ever seen, or are simply curious about what poetry can do, you don't need experience to belong here.
VOICES RISING
Youth Voices Raised in Verse
Saturday, March 27, 2027
The complete 2027 Voices Rising schedule is coming soon.
Programming will include:
- Free youth poetry workshops
- Southwest Regional Youth Poetry Slam
- Opportunities to meet and learn from poets participating throughout Chicharra
- Access to additional festival workshops, readings, open mics, and events where age restrictions do not apply
VOICES RISING REGISTRATION OPENS NOVEMBER 1
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL YOUTH POETRY SLAM
Take the Stage.
Young poets ages 13–20 are invited to compete in Chicharra's Southwest Regional Youth Poetry Slam. No previous slam experience is required.
The winning poet will be named the 2027 Southwest Regional Youth Champion.
MORE THAN A COMPETITION
Voices Rising isn't only for poets who want to compete.
Come take a workshop. Meet another writer your age. Hear a poet whose work changes what you thought a poem could be. Read something aloud for the first time—or don't. Spend a day surrounded by people who care about words.
Chicharra's larger festival programming also welcomes young poets wherever individual event age requirements allow. We want young writers to experience poetry not as one kind of performance or one kind of page, but as a living art with countless ways to enter.
BUILT WITH COMMUNITY
Voices Rising is made possible through the support of organizations and community partners who believe young writers deserve places to discover and develop their voices.