👻✨ Spotlight Poetry Presents: Heads Will Roll – 4th Annual Halloween Poetry Slam ✨💀

The stage is set, the cauldron is bubbling, and the verses are haunting... Join us if you dare for a night where words cut sharper than a witch’s blade!

📅 Thursday, October 30th
📍 Taverna Costera (1031 S Main St)
⏰ 7PM–10PM
🎟️ GA: $25 | Poet Registration: $30

This isn’t your average slam! It’s a head-to-head, bone-rattling elimination where only 8 brave poets will step into the ring. Round by round, they’ll battle with original poems (3 minutes & 10 seconds max), and only the strongest spells survive. One by one, poets will advance... while the others will be sent to the grave. 🪦

✨ What to Expect

A spine-tingling feature performance from award-winning poet Durmerrick Ross, whose words blend stage, sermon, and spirit.
Local vendors with eerie delights.
A costume contest (best dressed wins a cash prize 💰).
Giveaways & more spooky surprises!

☠️ Competition Rules (the scary fine print)

3 original poems required.
3:10 time limit (lose points if you go over).
Random audience judges decide your fate.
Tie? Sudden-death 1-minute showdown.
Costumes encouraged (but won’t affect scores).

🕸️ Poet Registration

Opens September 14th @ 12 PM PST.
$30 covers your slam slot + GA ticket + admission to a special workshop + extra spooky goodies.
Only 8 slots available—first come, first served! (No walk-ups 👀).

⚰️ The Bracket of Doom

Round 1: 8 poets → 4 advance
Round 2: 4 poets → 2 advance
Final Round: 2 poets → 1 Champion (the last one standing 👑💀)

Come dressed in your creepiest, wildest, or funniest costume and prepare for a night of thrills, chills, and killer poetry.

🦇 Meet The Feature

DURMERRICK IS A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED, AWARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE POET AND SPEAKER WHOSE WORK BLENDS

STAGE, SERMON, AND STORYTELLING. HIS ART CONFRONTS THE INTERSECTIONS OF BLACKNESS, QUEERNESS, FAITH, MENTAL

HEALTH, AND STRUCTURAL INJUSTICE—INVITING AUDIENCES TO BEAR WITNESS WHILE ALSO IMAGINING NEW POSSIBILITIES

FOR CHANGE. FEATURED BY THE NAACP, LACMA, COCA-COLA, ALL DEF, AND THE PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, HIS

PERFORMANCES DRAW ON THEATRE, BLACK PREACHING, AND SPOKEN WORD TRADITIONS. DURMERRICK IS CURRENTLY

DEVELOPING A ONE-MAN SHOW THAT EXPANDS HIS RELATIONSHIP TO PERFORMANCE ART, EXPERIMENTAL THEATER, AND

BLACK ORAL TRADITIONS, GUIDED BY HIS BELIEF IN STORYTELLING AS BOTH ART AND A TOOL FOR LIBERATION.

Follow us on Instagram @spotlightpoetrylv to catch the bout draw live once the bracket fills… if you’re brave enough.

Questions? --> spotlightpoetrylv@gmail.com