Funding is provided by the US Embassy Budapest (Government of the United States), the International Visegrad Fund and Trafó House of Contemporary Arts. The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe

 

Katharina Wenty (Austria)

Katharina Wenty, born 1995, grew up in Vienna, Austria, where she started writing her own short stories and poems at the age of nine years. Later she also discovered her passion for filmmaking and won several short film award prizes, e.g. “Media Literacy Award”, “Zeitimpuls Kurzfilmaward 2013” etc. After school she started studying theatre-, film- and media-studies at the university of Vienna, followed by a course of lectures in Multimedia at the Höhere Graphische Bundes-, Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt. In 2016 Katharina started performing at Poetry Slams and 2018 she became the Wien/Niederösterreich/Burgenland state champion in Poetry Slam. She currently works as a production assistant in the public-service broadcasting ORF as well as in a film production company.

 

 

 

 

REQ (Belgium)

REQ pour Remise En Question. Ce jeune artiste est issu de la scène slam liégeoise connue pour ses verbes contestataires. Concerts hip-hop ou performances artistiques, REQ est à la recherche des limites de son art, imbibé de questionnements et d’émotions

 

 

 

 

Constantinos Papageorgiou (Cyprus)

Constantinos Papageorgiou is a Cypriot and he has published two poetry collections in Greece. He has been nominated as Best Newcomer Poet by the Hellenic Authors’ Society in 2013 and he has been awarded with 1st Poetry Prize for a Young Poet by the Cyprus Writers’ Union in 2008. He has performed poems in Cyprus, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stilda Roguljic (Croatia)

My name is Stilda from Croatia.

I just started discovering slam poetry and I hope it will always be just a little bit undiscovered, unbalanced and loud. That’s what makes it slam.That’s what makes us human.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filip Koryta aka Dr Filipitch (Czech Republic)

A poet (two collections published), fiction and lyrics writer, the lead singer of the bands diCaprio and Glajstr Duo, a slammer (Czech national master 2017, national double master in Czech Duo Slam, published one collection of slam texts), teacher (majored in Czech language and literature and psychology), festival production manager, host. He loves watermelons and is hopeless in all sports except for table tennis and floorball. He lives either in Pilsen, or on the train to a poetry slam

 

 

 

 

 

Silver Sepp (Estonia)

What is this that begins to sing when I find myself all alone? asks Silver Sepp in the title song of his debut solo CD.

In Estonian musical tradition Silver can be regarded as a lone wandering troubadour with fantasy-instruments of his own devising, who doesn’t tread well-travelled paths but rather blazes new trails, giving resonance to washing bowls, a bicycle wheel, a fish-netting stand, canalization tubes and his own voice, telling tales of great yearning, peace of mind, erosion, blossoming, homecoming and revolution. He has written lyrics for his songs since he was 13. He has discovered that sometimes the lyrics get a life of their own. First time he can’t take any musical instrument with him as he got up to Poetry Slam stage.

 

 

Jonna Nummela (Finland)

Nihkee Akka (Finnish for “grumpy bitch”) is the award-winning feminist poetry alter-ego of Jonna Nummela. Nihkee Akka is the ruling Poetry Slam Champion of Finland, performing in Finnish and English, actively gigging both in Finland and abroad. With a background in stand-up comedy and clowning, Nihkee Akka is a spoken word hybrid pushing the boundaries of poetry through humour and personal politics. Jonna Nummela is also the vice-chair of  Helsinki Poetry Connection.

 

 

 

 

Jon Magnus Arnarsson (Iceland)

Jon Magnus is a poet from Reykjavik.

For the first time Iceland sends a champion to a slam competition. He has all to gain, nothing to lose. This should be interesting…

Jon Magnus is a poet, rapper, playwright from Reykjavik, Iceland. He’s been weaving words since a young age and is the first representative of slam poetry that Iceland sends to a competition.

 

 

 

 

 

Nuala Leonard (Ireland)

Nuala Leonard has been performing her poetry around Ireland at open mikes, slams, fixed monthly features, festivals and at a range of other events for over ten years and recently, she has headlined a number of prominent poetry nights and featured on radio. Her work has been described as witty, moving, tremendous and powerful.

Jinx Lennon, Irish punk poet and singer-songwriter has said ‘Nuala goes right through the brick wall to make new slabs and shapes that are sometimes difficult to witness ‘cause it’s the real thing she is presenting to us here instead of some old guff’.

Nuala grew up on the west coast of Ireland, has lived for many years down in the south of the country and now lives with her partner and their two kids in the north-east near the capital, Dublin. Participating in the European Slam Championships in Budapest will be her first time performing her poetry outside Ireland.

2017–2018 All-Ireland Slam Champion

 

Luca Bernardini (Italy)

Luca Bernardini is 28 years old and comes from Florence, Italy, he is a psychologist and a drama and improv teacher too, and he feels lucky because of that and many other things that make him happy. He performs in written and improvised plays of his own, often with really nice people he asks to join him in some new theatrical experiment. He accidentally discovered the Poetry Slam world this April, he met wonderful people there and had a great time, also he ended up being really lucky, so soon he will be flying  to Budapest, now can he believe that? Not yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paride Rama (Italy)

Paride Rama is 32 years old. He works as a computer programmer, but considers himself a multi-faceted one. He is interested in various subjects such as science, art, psychology, sport, astronomy and spirituality. He participates in the poetry slam since September 2017, but has already taken part in dozens of such contests. He met many wonderful people, traveling around Italy thanks to poetry. Can not wait to meet others in Budapest!

 

 

 

 

Aiste Sivyte (Lithuania)

 

Born at 1997, living since 2016

Studies theatre history and critique.

Most likely is thinking about theatre right now.

 

 

Marija Grubor (Macedónia)

Marija Grubor was born in Veles, a small town in the heart of the Republic of Macedonia in the early 90’s. She’s holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, has clinical experience, and loves her profession, but, since decent employment opportunities in her field in Macedonia are as rare as unicorns, she has been working as a freelance author for the past couple of years. Writing became her thing at a very young age and it turbulently developed through her adolescent years which is when she published her first collection of poetry and short prose, “Ликвид/Liquid”, in 2008. During this period, she also fell in love with photography and first started working on creating poemography – pairing poetry with film photography. The 2010’s gave birth to a new poetry book called “Водата нешто носи/Carried away by the water”, which was published in 2015. During her time as a student, she was active in more student cultural and political collectives which supported alternative culture and ideals. In 2015 she had her first exhibition of film photography as a part of the promotion of “Carried away by the water” in Skopje, while the second one, in 2017, named “Travelling camera”, was a result of a multinational Balkan-based collaboration and happened in Belgrade.

In her free time she enjoys camping and swimming against the stream

Sofie Frost (Norway)

Sofie Frost is a Norwegian actress and slampoet. She writes about her own traumas in life, such as abuse, mental health and shame. The aim with her poetry is always to start a conversation and to make others feel less alone. In 2014 Sofie graduated from East 15 Acting School with a Master of Arts. Now she lives in Oslo as a freelance actress and spoken word poet.

 

 

 

 

Aleksandra Kanar (Poland)

Born in 1995, a creative writing student based in Wrocław. Not a poet, just pretending to be one; a Hannah Horvath wannabe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adriana Bertran Ania (Spain)

Adriana Bertran Anía (Barcelona, 1985) has used writing to try to come to terms with reality since she was a young child. As she never quite manages to, she hopes to continue to write forever! She holds a double degree in English & Spanish Literature, and has also written children’s songs in English and an awarded theatre play in Catalan. She has just published her first book of poems, Viaje de Vuelta (the Journey Back).

 

 

 

 

Mattias Hammarstrom (Sweden)

Born in Uppsala, Sweden, Mattias Hammarström has an insatiable hunger for wordplay. This comes at the expense of sleep, regular eating habits, normal social behaviour and should (according to most doctors) be properly medicated. Mattias, however, does not agree. I mean: why study for your mid-terms or wash the looming laundry tower in the corner of your room, when you can spend sixty-three hours straight trying to figure out how to turn The Bible into a syllabically rhymed metaphor for cheese?

 

 

 

 

 

Nenad Ignjatovic (Serbia)

Nenad Ignjatović was born in Šabac, Serbia on May 14th, 1993. He got master’s degree in Comparative Literature at the University of Novi Sad. He is writing poetry, prose, drama texts and literary criticism. He is an independent artist and an amateur actor who has participated in a number of theater plays and acted in independent movies. He has also written and directed a play. He has worked as an editor of school papers.

His first slam performances were in 2016 on slam events organized by Poetarium in Novi Sad, Serbia and Poezin in Belgrade, Serbia. His performance includes improvisation without reading, with or without a musical background. His slam performance contains elements of drama, and the poet himself is a protagonist of a portrayal. His poems are mostly focused on people from social margins. He is a champion of a Poetry Festival Piñero, organized in 2018 by Poezin in Belgrade, Serbia.

 

 

 

 

Samuel Szabo (Slovakia)

Samčo, brat dážďoviek

is a Slovak musician, artist,slamer and multifunctional performer with hyperactive mind.

The work of Samčo recontextualises childhood, religion, poetry, singer- songwriting, or electronic music and channels his inner child. His art is full of samples and field recordings, reflects pop- culture and nationalism in its own DIY way and creates its own bizarre reality. His musical work was also appreciated by the Radio_FM’s Radio_head Award in the experimental music category for his album Áttörő erő (2015).

Samčo draws inspiration from the weird aspects of the everyday life around him, decayed urban surroundings, straightforwardness of nature; he observes and examines the society and its reactions. His performance is a direct and genuine expression.

Samčo is a typical hyperactive artist and he frequently takes part in various collaborative projects, including two video operas by the contemporary Slovak composer Miro Tóth and an experimental theatre performance in HaDivadlo in Brno “Laserová romance” (Laser romance). He’s also a member of the Slovak alternative band Pentagramček (Little Pentagram) that mocks the low quality of “educational” gospel music and plays “satanic songs for children”. His most recent project is called “Umelá neinteligencia” (Artificial non-intelligence) which is a computer generated, automated, localized debater on the internet

He slams occacionally on small stages around Czech republic and Slovakia, and some big events like Uprising festival or the National Slam poetry championship.

He is the second winner of Slovakian championship, and first winner which wins with half improvised slams.

Neza Prah Senicar (Slovenia)

Neža Prah Seničar comes from Slovenia. She mainly stares and wonder, but as this does not pay the bills, she spends 8 hours per day or more in the building that belongs to the Slovenian public TV broadcaster where she produces TV shows for children and youth. She visited poetry slam for the first time 2 years ago when she has moved from capital Ljubljana to Celje.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dmytro Lazutkin (Ukraine)

A poet, journalist and a sports commentator, born in 1978 in Kyiv. A metallurgical engineer by profession, he has published seven poetry collections in Ukrainian and one in Russian. He was awarded several literary awards, at home and abroad.  Also, he is a national champion in Cossack martial arts, has a black belt in kempo karate and has won the bronze medal in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. As a TV commentator, he hosted several sport programs and the Olympic games in Peking, Vancouver and London. He still presents box matches on the “Inter” station. His poem Requiem has been musically adapted by Ally Zahajkevyč to become a part of the oratory “God with Us” of the director Serhija Proskurni. This oratory has been dedicated to the soldiers who were fighting in Eastern Ukraine and it was performed on the Sofijiv Square during the celebrations of the 23rd anniversary of Ukraine´s independence.

 

 

 

 

 

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Peter Molnar (Hungary)

Molnár Péter is a founder of Fidesz, was member of the Parliament for 8 years, he is a researcher of the freedom of press, he is a founder and editor of Földalatti Slam (Underground Slam), he is a radio host at Tilos Rádió, teacher at CEU, director of the series Hate Speech Monologues, his novel and play is called Keresők (Searchers). One of the most active slam poets since the beginning of Hungarian slam poetry.