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Spoken word art Spoken word art

cultivated & celebrated in an open mic & poetry slam series in Victoria, BC.

Home Events Poetry Tongues of Fire spoken word series

Tongues of Fire spoken word series

Three Thursday nights a month, from September to May – Victoria Poetry Project hosts Tongues of Fire, a spoken word series of open mics and poetry slams. Open mics take place on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, while poetry slams take place on the 3rd Thursday of the month (except in December, when it’s the 1st Thursday). Presented at the Caffè Fantastico Quadra Village Roastery.

Poetry performance in a warm, welcoming space

Launched in September 2005, Tongues of Fire (ToF) is the premiere spoken word series on lekwungen territory (Victoria, BC). Open mic events include featured performers, with no advance sign-up required for open mic participants. Poetry slam participation requires sign-up and the top three poets receive a gift card prize. Each of the ToF events also includes the performance of a feature poet.

ToF aims to create a warm and welcoming space for anyone who may have never performed before or who may want to experiment with a new piece, as well as veteran performers looking to connect with an energetic and supportive audience.

Tongues of Fire guidelines
  • They welcome all oral and literary poetic styles and multilingual expressions.
  • They have zero tolerance for hate speech. Otherwise, you can say whatever you want.
  • Most importantly, enjoy and take good care of yourself and others!
Open mic info
  • Open mic performers have five minutes maximum to share their poem(s).
  • Up to 12 open mic slots are available per event. No advance sign-up.
  • Acoustic musical accompaniment is welcome; however, due to time constraints, they don’t provide technical support for non-acoustic performers.
Poetry slam info
  • Poetry slam is a (fairly silly) competition in which five random members of the audience assign a score between 0 and 10 for each poem.
  • Poets should be prepared to perform 2 or 3 poems in a slam (there are 2 rounds).
  • Poets are required to perform poems of their own original creation.
  • Poets are required to perform within set time limits (3 minutes + a 10-second grace period in each round). Poets going over time will be allowed to finish their poem but will receive a time penalty.
  • Poets are required to perform without the use of props, costumes or musical accompaniment.
  • Poets competing in slams can qualify to compete in the March Poetry Slam Finals for a chance to represent Victoria/Tongues of Fire at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam, part of the Verses Festival of Words, in Vancouver.

You can find more info on poetry slam rules here.

About Victoria Poetry Project (VPP)

Victoria Poetry Project Society is a small, not-for-profit arts organization based in Victoria, BC. VPP produces the spoken word series Tongues of Fire from September to May; Victorious Voices, a three-day festival of youth spoken word arts, in April; and occasional public workshops associated with these events. Through their programming, VPP aims to provide Capital Regional District (CRD) and Vancouver Island audiences access to professional and emerging spoken word artists from across Canada; provide community members of all experience levels a stage to share their own poetry; encourage and facilitate dialogue between spoken word and other artistic communities in Victoria; and welcome and encourage diverse voices in the spoken word community and at VPP events. In accordance with their community values, they strive to challenge racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and systemic oppression in all forms in their programming, organizational practices and perspectives. Read about their Safer Spaces policy here.

You can support them by signing up to become a member at no cost here. Membership allows you to vote for and/or join the board of directors.

Graphic design image of a white fireball streaking downwards, from top right to bottom left, against a dark royal blue background.

(Photo credits: Victoria Poetry Project.)

 

Event details

Hosted by: Victoria Poetry Project 

Type of event: spoken word series

Featured poet: See their 2025/2026 event schedule to find out who the featured poet is for each event.

Dates: Events take place on three Thursday nights a month, from September – May. See the schedule link for exact dates.

  • Open mics: 2nd & 4th Thursday of every month
  • Poetry slams: 3rd Thursday of every month (except in December, when it’s the 1st Thursday)

Start time: 7:00 PM PT (Doors open @ 6:00 PM / Sign-up @ 6:30 PM)

Duration: TBA

Cost: Entry is C$5.00 – $15.00 sliding scale (cash or card), but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Location: Caffè Fantastico Quadra Village Roastery, 965 Kings Road, Victoria, BC, V8T 1W7, Canada

Contact details: Victoria Poetry Project, admin@victoriapoetryproject.com, victoriapoetryproject.com

 

Content warning: Adult language & mature content.

Accessibility: There are three stairs between the service area and the main seating area. The stage is in the service area to ensure a view for everyone in the audience. If this makes the stage inaccessible for you, they’re happy to bring the microphone down to the main seating area in front of the stage. More info here.