V
Local poet, Glyn Phillips, is the 2026 Wolverhampton Literature Festival Poetry Slam Champion, having been awarded the title after a tense (please excuse the pun), fast-moving and exciting competition held at Wolverhampton’s Arena Theatre on Saturday 31st January.
The packed-out venue cheered along as 15 performance poets from across the wider West Midlands region (the Black Country, Birmingham, Worcestershire and Shropshire) battled it out over various rounds to try and claim the prestigious title. The standard was universally high with some contestants being multi-slam champs already and a whole range of styles and topics, from serious to humorous, was offered up to the five judges throughout the evening.
Glyn managed to win them over with his energetic, comic tales about false friends, over-confident rats, and the bewilderment of a Black Country man who enters his local pub only to find out is has been taken over by poets for the night…
Glyn is a published author with two collections out and a third in the pipeline. Although he has been performing for 13 years now this was his first proper competitive slam competition.
“After being diagnosed with head and neck cancer three years ago and told at one stage that they might have to amputate my tongue, to be able to come back from all the treatment and still be able to even perform has been a blessing in itself. To then become the Wolves Lit Fest Slam Champion is the icing on the cake after a difficult few years. Here’s to poetry and the creative arts in general giving us all something to live for!”
As part of his prize, Glyn will be performing in the 2027 Festival itself.
The Slam was organised by Wolverhampton-based Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists and is always the first event ahead of the larger Wolverhampton Literature Festival which takes place this year from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th February at various venues around the city.
Go to wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk for full details and tickets.
Photo Credit - Saida Chowdhury
