About Us

The Womxn of the World Poetry Slam Festival (WOWPS) is a 4-day international poetry competition and festival that is open to people 18 years and older who navigate the world as and/or identify as womxn. The winner of this WOWPS competition will be crowned the Womxn of the World Poetry Slam Champion.

The WOWPS community was uniquely designed to honor and celebrate the stories of womxn in a world that readily attempts to silence and oppress them. It is a space where womxn are centered, safe, and encouraged and open to womxn of all sexuality, creed, race, nationality and religion. WOWPS was introduced to the national slam poetry community in 2008 by Kimberly Simms and Deborah Marsh. The first WOWPS was held in Detroit, Michigan and since that time, the slam and festival has been traveling all across the United States.

WOWPS 2024 will be hosted by the Black Arts District March 27- March 30th in Baltimore, Maryland.

WOWPS Diversity Statement

Unpacking the “x” in WOWPS

For the last three years, WOWPS has adopted the use of “x” when referring to the word Womxn within the name of the slam. The use of ‘x’ empowers our gender non-conforming, genderqueer, two spirit, femme, trans, non-binary and cis poets.

WOWPS acknowledges that gender identity exists in a sphere and one word has room for multiple gender expressions without weighing one more important than another.

In addition, WOWPS recognizes and highlights that more than one gender expression can be impacted by patriarchy, misogyny, and sexism. WOWPS strives to provide all  poets a safe space that allows them to explore and share their narratives and truths.