Poetry Stage
Welcome to Urkult's Poetry Stage – a festival gem for anyone who loves words and rhythm! Discover electrifying Poetry Slam, invited poets, and an open stage where anything can happen.
Next to Brandmuseet (the Fire Museum), by the Hembygsgården, you'll find the Poetry Stage. Here, you can listen to, and share: thoughts, laughter, tears, rhymes, and reflections. It's a place where the extraordinary meets the everyday, where depth meets playfulness. On Friday, you can take part in the qualifying round for the Poetry Slam competition. On Saturday, the final takes place, and the winner will have the honour of performing on the Main Stage before Saturday's 21:00 concert. Registration for both the Poetry Slam and the Open Stage takes place on site.
Invited poets: Teodor Wolgers reads from Beppe Wolgers' "Poems from Vattudalen". Guro and the Champions, Swedish poetry slam champions 2026.
Teodor Wolgers
Forty years after the passing of his grandfather Beppe, Teodor reads from Beppe Wolgers' Poems from Vattudalen. Don't miss Teodor's concert at Ådals-Liden Church as well!
Guro and the Champions
Winners of the 2026 Swedish Poetry Slam Team Championship. The team consists of three Norwegian Poetry Slam champions, each with their own distinctive style, dialect, and background, blending profound seriousness with humour in their poetry. All three have been nurtured, encouraged, and inspired in different ways by Guro Sibeko, one of Norway's longest-active—and finest—slam poets. She is also the team's fourth member, but unfortunately was unable to take part in the Urkult Festival.
Sofie Frost is the reigning (and two-time) Norwegian Poetry Slam Champion. She has a hot dog, feeds the birds on her balcony, and dreams of one day having a view that doesn't involve intense eye contact with the neighbours.
Patrick Raugstad was the Norwegian Poetry Slam Champion in 2024. In his poems, he weaves together the political and the personal, often with a generous dose of rhyme and a touch of humour. When he grows up, he'll be a wise man.
Marija Bliznac is a Norwegian Poetry Slam champion, born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She lives in Porsgrunn with her partner, Joakim, and their cat, Pepper.