“Millions of people...live in a darkness which - if you have that funny, terrible thing which every artist can recognize and no artist can define - you are responsible to those people to lighten that darkness…it is almost our only hope.”  James Baldwin

HYPER BOLE FALL 2019

We are proud to announce the return of Hyper Bole Regional Youth Poetry Slam & Festival, the largest individual youth poetry slam and festival in Virginia! The all-day event will be held on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia on Saturday, October 12, 2019. Youth poets from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia will come together to participate in a series of individual preliminary slams, workshops, and an open mic that will culminate in Hyper Bole Finals on Saturday evening, where one student will be crowned the 2019 Hyper Bole Champion and awarded a scholarship!

The deadline to register for the event is FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4TH at 6:00 p.m. Please register ASAP as space is limited!  

ABOUT THE PRELIMS: Competing youth will be assigned slam rooms where judges will silently score each performance.

ABOUT WORKSHOPS: Registered youth will self-select two one-hour long workshops. These interactive workshops focus on themes of social justice. Youth will sign-up for workshops the day of Hyper Bole.

ABOUT THE OPEN MIC: All registered high school and George Mason University students are invited to the Open Mic. Poetry, dance, song, and other talents are encouraged! Space on the Open Mic is reserved for non-finalists. Top 10 Finalists from Prelims will be announced during the open mic.

ABOUT FINALS: Hyper Bole Finals is held at the Johnson Center Atrium. It is open and free to the public.

Registration is open to all high school poets who are interested in participating.

For detailed participation guidelines and competition rules, please click on the following links below.