University of Worcester students showcased their live poetry talents in a national contest, securing an impressive second place finish.
The UniSlam 2026 event saw the best university spoken-word poet teams go head-to-head, performing their own works in a bid to take home the title.
Worcester team captain, Aimee Kiernan, who is in the final year of her degree in English Literature and Creative Writing and has competed in UniSlam for the last three years, said: “I’m immensely proud of the team, and all the hard work and dedication we put into preparing for this event definitely paid off! It’s been amazing to share this journey together.”
The team comprised students all studying Creative Writing jointly with other subjects from across the Institute of Arts and Humanities: Aimee, Lizzie Arnold, Brynn Birks, Millie Hubble, Jaden Singh and Nikki Hardy (their mentor).
Facing teams that included semi professional and published poets, the Worcester group saw themselves as underdogs. “It was nerve wracking,” said Lizzie, “because many of the other universities had performers who’d been on the scene much longer than we have.”
The annual competition brings together teams of students from universities across the UK and Ireland for three days of masterclasses, talks and performance events alongside the prestigious varsity poetry slam tournament.
Competing against more than 20 other teams, the Worcester team successfully made it to the Grand Final where they beat teams from the University of East Anglia and Trinity College Dublin to secure second place overall.
The University has taken part in UniSlam annually since 2019, but this marks its best result yet. The students spent months preparing a mix of individual pieces and one group piece, most of which they performed entirely from memory; quite a feat considering some of them had little experience of performing to such large audiences.
Course Leader in Creative Writing, Dr Ruth Stacey, said: “The University’s Creative Writing team is immensely proud of the team’s accomplishments this year. They performed with flair and poise. Their carefully crafted poems were emotive and engaging.”
She added: “This achievement is amazing, and it is a testament not only to the incredible talent of our students, but also to our Principal Lecturer in Creative Writing, Dr Jack McGowan, who is a leading scholar in spoken word in the UK. He has inspired the teams each year, and the students support each other as some graduate and still come back to mentor. This success was thanks to all the teams who took part before and passed on their skills and encouragement.”