State of the Word

Tickets are available for purchase in person at the event.

Join us for the 11th Annual State of the Word which will feature the region’s top college and high school writers, poets, emcees, and spoken-word artists. Performers emerge from Southern Word’s programs sponsored by Metro Nashville Arts Commission, Tennessee Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Metro Nashville Public Schools, LEAD Public Schools, Memorial Foundation, Humanities Tennessee, Dugas Family Foundation, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Public Library Foundation, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Dan and Margaret Maddox Charitable Foundation, and the Nashville Office of the Mayor.

A panel of judges will also select the fourth Nashville Youth Poet Laureate, a program which aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, diversity and tolerance, and youth voice across Nashville. The Nashville Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of the Office of the Mayor, Metro Nashville Arts Commission, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Public Library Foundation, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Urban Word and Southern Word. The Nashville Youth Poet Laureate program aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, diversity and tolerance, and youth voice across Nashville.

Parking for this event is available for free in West Garage (2500 Children’s Way) through the Children’s Way entrance.

Proceeds benefit Southern Word and the placement of teaching artists in Middle Tennessee’s public schools.