THE father of Swindon's festival of literature, Matt Holland, described it as a cross between sport and poetry – the passion of verse with the competitive edge of a football match.

And the young artistes of Swindon Youth Poetry Slam did not disappoint.

The slam tackled subjects from bullying, growing pains and drink and drugs to the love hate relationship teenagers have with their mothers, and the General Election.

Eighteen teams battled it out at the Arts Centre, in Devizes Road, Old Town, on Saturday, each vying for the coveted Festival Of Literature youth poetry slam cup and a host of other prizes.

Matt, who launched the youth event six years ago, said the event showed young people continue to appreciate the art of poetry.

“Every year this event is oversubscribed with teams wanting to compete,” he said.

“There’s a real wealth of talent and in this setting the competition really gives it some edge.

“I love sport and I often think the youth slam is a cross between a tournament and a poetry reading – self-penned poetry full of the passion and anticipation of a football match.”

The winners from each heat – Two Boys And A Half, Big Mac, Three Gems and Josh, Home Eddys – and the highest scoring runners up – Blondies and Lemonsworth – had to endure a 15-minute interval before performing their final pieces in the slam finale.

With a showstopping performance of Carli's Afro, 12-year-olds Matthew Booth, Carli Green and Adam Pearce – otherwise known as Big Mac – brought the house down with their hilarious rhyme. But it was fellow Commonweal School pupils Two Boys And A Half – Leon Prinzi, Joe Staddon and Jay Roberts – who scooped an armful of poetry books and the winner’s cup for the tale of conflict between bullies and nerds over which faction would rule the school library.

Josie Williams, Common-weal’s community arts development officer, said: “This year’s turn-out has been tremendous. Not only have we had more boys involved than before, but for the first time we welcomed home schooled pupils.

“They all performed very well with an impressive pool of talent.”

Matt said: “"I have been to all six Swindon Youth Slam events and have to say this year we have seen the emergence of boys.

“For too long now the ladies of Swindon have wiped the floor with the unfairer sex, but this year the boys really had their day – with the top two teams being completely boys.

“The boys have hidden in the shadows long enough so to see so many at the sixth youth poetry slam is most encouraging.”