Poetry Briefly: Xabiso Vili Is The World Slam Poetry Champion
Updated: Oct 27, 2022
Congratulations are in order, Xabiso went to Brussels, all words blazing, and he brought the world poetry slam championship home to South Africa. A first of many for the mother continent.
In the last decade, the creative writing and performance community has witnessed Xabiso Vili’s emergence as a vicious slam poet, setting ablaze stages in both physical and virtual spaces, leaving a trail of melted mics in his wake and platforms in flames. To this fateful day, the poetry slam King is undisputed. Let's briefly take a look at his journey to this auspicious event and rightful crowning.
Before 2020
Xabiso always has a knack for slamming; the energy and drive in his performances separate him far apart from his fellow competitors, in the year 2015/16 he won his first big poetry slam competition, the Speak Out Loud Youth Competition hosted by power poetry house, Hear My Voice.
Before this, Xabiso had quite a collection of regional poetry titles in his trophy cabinet, this includes his 3rd place title from the Gauteng Regional Slam and the 2nd place title from the Current State of Poetry One-on-One league slam.
The Year 2020/21’
When the pandemic hit, poetry houses had no choice but to move all operations to digital spaces; despite the uncertainty, the creative writing and performance community adapted well and soared. This is about the same time the Eastern Cape poet, Xabiso Vili took to the spotlight and owned his slam champion title when he won the Word N’ Sound Digital Slam Finale, two times in a row against top creative writers and performers globally, making him the best slam poet in the country.
The TedX Speaker didn’t stop there; on his way to the World Poetry Slam Championship, he entered the Slam Jam Competition in 2021 by Poetry Africa, a widely revered and biggest African poetry festival. Winning the slam by a margin and earning his place at the WPS Championship in Brussels in 2022.
World Championship 2022
This Championship is the epitome of global poetry competitions, featuring 40 poetry slam champions from 37 countries! Offering a diverse satellite program to both Belgium and international audiences in the 2022 edition.
After qualifying for the semifinals of this auspicious Championship through the Poetry Africa Festival slam competition, award-winning writer, Xabiso Vili, arrived in Brussels ready to take the world by poetic storm, topping the first round of the semifinals by a margin and eventually winning the Championship to be the first ever African-born poet to do so.