We are 4 competitive poets, going to represent Waterloo Region at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Winnipeg, Manitoba in October 2016. Last year, the Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam Team came 5th on the national stage, and we are ready to go even further this year. We want to put Kitchener-Waterloo on the map of Canadian Spoken Word & Poetry.
All teams are responsible for paying for their own travel costs, accommodations, food, and incidentals, and this adds up to a substantial amount of money. In order to put our best foot forward, we need to fundraise from the community we represent. We are fundraising in many ways, performing all over the region, creating and selling merchandise, running poetry showcases and workshops. We are all pouring our hearts and energy into this endeavour.

We are asking for KWAwesome’s help in reaching our fundraising goal. By investing in the team, KWAwesome will be giving us the opportunity to represent the hometown at a national level, and beyond that, to bring back a new set of skills gained through competing at such high level. The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word includes workshops, showcases by successful poets, and dialogue sessions. Which we will give right back to the community through slams workshops and events.

KWAwesome’s grant money would be invested into the team’s travel fund, allowing them to purchase airline tickets that will get them to Winnipeg where they hope not only to make all of KW proud, but to bring back knowledge that can be shared with others, to show KW and especially young people how powerful poetry is.

Since the finals in April KWPS has been planning and looking forward to attending and competing on a national level, some of us for the first time, we have the opportunity to attend our first national competition by representing KW and our awesome community. The excitement is only growing as october approaches, we want all of KW to get hyped with us, and that includes you!