Slam poetry national champion Elizabeth Acevedo will kick off a slam competition at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in the Nebraska Union Auditorium.

The event, sponsored by the University Program Council, is free for University of Nebraska-Lincoln students with a valid NCard and $5 for faculty, staff and the public. Acevedo’s performance will be followed by Slam Poetry UNL’s Grand Slam, a competition to select five poets to compete in the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational April 12-15 at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

In addition to being a national champion, Acevedo is a Beltway Grand Slam champion and the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam representative for Washington, D.C. She has graced stages nationally and internationally, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Madison Square Garden, South African State Theatre and The Bozar in Brussels, Belgium. She is also well known for poetry videos, which have gone viral and been picked up by PBS, Latina Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Upworthy.

Slam Poetry UNL is a student group that promotes creative expression through the writing and performing of slam poetry. This is the third year the group will send a team to the national competition, which features 60 teams from the United States and United Kingdom.

The University Program Council is a student organization that provides diverse, educational and entertaining programs to enhance the university community. UPC Nebraska is the executive body responsible for the implementation of programs and activities funded by student fees.