Poetry Slams: Addressing Identity, Inequality and Multilingualism in Community Spaces in Mexico
This project examines poetry slams in Mexico, approaching them as a social movement that addresses crucial societal challenges. Poetry slams –and performance poetry in general– revolve around very complex cultural identities and mixed ethnic, social, linguistic and economic backgrounds in Mexico, and they work as a non-elitist, bottom-up poetic movement generated by poets that often feel marginalised and aim their cultural production at audiences with similar concerns.
What are our aims?
The project works with performance poets, audiences, local social and educational offices and NGOs to answer challenging questions around cultural politics: How do poets' and audiences' attitudes/beliefs expressed in slams shape society's opinions? How are linguistic, political and social issues expressed through poetry in postcolonial countries? How is poetry used to negotiate societal inequalities and contested identities? How do issues of heritage, multilingualism and race impact poets and/or audiences? Can it effectively negotiate and foster better community relationships and transform spaces?
What will we do?
The researchers, Professor Diana Cullell (University of Liverpool) and Dr Gabriel Hernández Espinosa (Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico) will run perfopoetry exhibitions in community centres followed by workshops to bring together poets and the general public (January 2026). They will work with the NGOs World Poetry Slam Organization and Circuito Nacional Poetry Slam MX, which privilege education initiatives, run projects in the community and work with local governments. They will organise 3 events in community centres in Puebla, Mexico City and Querétar. The events will consist of a perfopoetry exhibition, a themed poetry slam (such as LGBT+/racial issues; community voices and languages; or contested identities) and a workshop. A graffiti board and a poetry booth will record the audience’s before and after impressions of performance poetry, and a QR code will direct them to the project’s webpage and a digital board to record their thoughts. The project will also produce a video and reports on local policy for the Social and Education Offices in Puebla, Mexico City and Querétaro, and to the WPSO.
Outputs
The project will design a toolkit aimed at general users, poets and artists, and NGOs, public organisations, and Policy makers. The researchers will co-author an academic article on poetry slams in Mexico and its impact on multi-ethnic and multi-lingual communities, and produce a video diary that will document the development of the project. The researchers will also compile 3 reports for the local governments and the NGOs, which will make recommendations on how to use poetry slams to foster better relationships in the communities and work on problematic areas/intersections.
The end of a poetry slam in Mexico, celebrating community and belonging:
