Iowa City, UNESCO City of Literature Wins SLAMOVISION 2025

Watch the Winning Poem Here

IOWA CITY’S Henry Morray is the winner of Slamovision 2025, having competed against the finest spoken word artists across the UNESCO Cities of Literature network.

UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature use creativity and culture to promote the social, economic and cultural development of their cities. In these times of global uncertainty, the network continues to connect literary communities across the world, forging bonds through the power of books, words and ideas.

Celebrating 15 years as a UNESCO city of literature, Dublin hosted the Slamovision Grand Finale’s 7th year on 6th November 2025, featuring 17 poets from Melbourne to Reykjavik and in between. For the first time ever, poets from Kozhikode, India and Odesa, Ukraine participated in the eagerly awaited contest.

The 2025 champion, Henry Morray, was crowned winner for his poem ‘Jack in the box’. Henry Morray is a Spoken Word Poet born in Maryland and raised in Iowa. Henry attended school at Cornell College in Mount Vernon Iowa.

Slamovision Winner 2025, Henry Morray

It was at Cornell where he discovered his passion for poetry, becoming the President of the school's spoken word and poetry club: Lyrically Inclined. In his senior year of college, Henry became Iowa City's 2022 Champion for Slamovision.

Since graduating, he routinely leads poetry workshops for students in the writing program Young Lions Roar and co-hosts The Roaring Rhetoric Open Mic in Rock Island, Illinois.

As a Poet Henry seeks to package his words in a medium that conjures mentally stimulating imagery, evokes an emotional range, and most importantly, establishes a human connection.

“

I am so grateful and honored to be crowned the SLAMOVISION 2025 Global Poetry Slam Champion! As I tuned in from Iowa into the live streamed event hosted from the beautiful city of Dublin Ireland, I couldn't help but be in awe once again, by the breadth and depth of talent, flowing from my international peers…. When I was eventually announced the winner, my heart definitely skipped a beat, and my brain lost its tempo temporarily. However, the smile that emerged from me and my coworkers in Iowa felt like a permanent, never-ending crescendo as the room erupted in a standing ovation,

Henry Morray

This was the biggest Slamovision to date, and arguably the most competitive yet. Each finalist had already got through at least one local heat and delivered their best performance to compete for the coveted title of champion. Iowa City was a resounding winner with Bremen’s Sven Kamin coming in second, closely followed by Rachel Runesson from Gothenburg in third.

The ‘Eurovision for the Spoken Word’ has been contested since 2019 and is aimed at increasing cultural participation within individual cities as well as showcasing local talent on an international stage.

Seventeen Cities of Literature participated in Slamovision 2025: Bremen (Germany), Dublin (Ireland), Exeter (UK), Gothenburg (Sweden), Heidelberg (Germany), Iowa City (USA), Kozhikode (India), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Manchester (UK), Melbourne (Australia), Nottingham (UK), Odesa (Ukraine), Québec City (Canada), Reykjavik (Iceland), Tartu (Estonia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Wroclaw (Poland).

“

to say that the audience was wowed by the standard of poetry, the subjects and the poets’ performances is an understatement. It was a bonus to have nearly half of the participating cities performing live in Dublin, a city renowned for its poets. We are delighted for Henry Morray and for Iowa City, Henry is a very talented performer with great depths.

Anne-Marie Kelly, Director, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature

We are thrilled for Henry, who has made incredible strides as a performance poet over the past few years. He represented Iowa City in 2023 and has continued to hone his gift in the time since. It is wonderful to see that hard work pays off with deserved international recognition. The other poets were incredibly strong this year, making his achievement even more impressive

John Kenyon, Director of Iowa City, UNESCO City of Literature.