BBC Radio 4 is organising a UK and Northern Ireland Performance Poetry Slam in 2009 between 18 of the top UK performance poets representing the nine BBC regions in a verse-spilling wit-spitting live knockout poetry competition.

Each region will choose two performance poets to represent them by pitting proven local slam winners against each other in a series of high-octane verbal battles guaranteed to sort the poetic wheat from the prosaic chaff.

In Birmingham, the Midlands poets get their chance for glory.

The Midlands heat qualifying slam gives you the opportunity to select the two champions of the spoken word in the Midlands that you think should take on representatives from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, North East England, North West England, South East England, South West England and London.

The two inter-regional semi-finals will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Thu 24 Sep at 11pm and Thu 1 Oct as 11pm. The Grand Final will be broadcast on Thu 8 Oct at 11pm.

The UK Performance Poetry Slam forms part of the BBC’s POetry Slam forms part of the BBC’s multi-platform poetry series running from May to October 2009.

Compere Giovanni ‘Spoz’ Esposito

Lineup
Chris Vickers
George ‘Poshboy’ Hardwick
Emma Purehouse
Steve Rooney
Brenda Read-Brown
Simon Lee
Mark Neil
Bohdan Piaceski
Cherrie ‘Riddlewoman’ Gillings
Sean ‘Evoke’ Welch
Mohammed ‘DubLe’ Shariff
Michelle ‘Mother’ Hubbard
Rob Gee
Jude Simpson
Ash Dickson