Poetry Slam Competition

1. Poetry Slam Competition What it is, what to do, and why it matters. Information provided by PSI’s official website, www.poetryslam.com

2. So what exactly is a poetry slam? (And what is it not?) • Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it. • Contrary to popular belief, here is no such thing as "slam poetry" even though the term "slam poet" seems to have gained acceptance. Those who use the term "slam poetry" are probably thinking more of hip-hop poetry or loud, in-your-face, vaguely poetic rants. The more useful question to ask is "What is the difference between spoken word and poetry?" Spoken word is poetry written first and foremost to be HEARD. At any given slam, much of the work presented could be called spoken word. • That being said, not all poetry slam performances are poetry slam competitions.

3. So what exactly is a poetry slam? (And what is it not?) (Continued) • The difference between slam competition and open mic: slam competition is engineered for the audience, whereas a number of open mic readings are engineered as a support network for poets. Slam is designed for the audience to react vocally and openly to all aspects of the show, including the poet's performance, the judges' scores, and the host's banter. • The kind of poetry read at a slam depends on the venue, the poets, and the slam. One of the best things about poetry slam is the range of poets it attracts. You'll find a diverse range of work within slam, including heartfelt love poetry, searing social commentary, uproarious comic routines, and bittersweet personal confessional pieces. Poets are free to do work in any style on any subject.

4. What is Poetry Slam, Inc? • The mission of Poetry Slam Incorporated (PSI) is to promote the performance and creation of poetry while cultivating literary activities and spoken word events in order to build audience participation, stimulate creativity, awaken minds, foster education, inspire mentoring, encourage artistic statement and engage communities worldwide in the revelry of language. • Poetry Slam, Inc. is the official non-profit organization charged with overseeing the international coalition of poetry slams. Though slams are maintained in a growing number of cities by local volunteer organizers, the vast majority of slam series follow the rules established by the governing body, and are certified by the governing body as slams that adhere to the vision slam's founders established for the art form over a decade ago.

5. What is Poetry Slam, Inc? (Continued) • PSI has created the backbone for a community of poets who are in frequent communication with one another, in order to pool ideas and share creative resources to insure the future growth and recognition of slam. Poets from the community frequently embark on poetry tours in other slam cities, relying on each other to set up the venues and housing necessary for such tours. • While PSI's main focus in past years has been the maintenance and growth of the National Poetry Slam, the organization is embarking on a series of programs and actions that seek to increase the public awareness of slams. PSI also hosts the Individual World Poetry Slam and the Women of the World Poetry Slam.

6. Key Players in a Successful Poetry Slam • Performers • Judges • Host • Scorekeeper • Timekeeper • Sacrificial poet/goat Some slams also include: • Guest judges • DJ

7. Slam Competition Format • The MC/host will deliver a spiel that tells the judges and the audience everything they need to know about the slam (I’ll elaborate on this later). • At the slam, 3 – 5 judges will be picked at random from the audience and will be give white boards and dry erase markers to use as score cards. (P.S. We could use some white boards.) • Judges will be asked by the host to score performance, effect, writing quality. It’s emphasized that the ratings have to be consistent (No score creep!). Host will ask them to judge as if there’s “no audience, no poet, just them.” • The host should tell audience their job is to sway the judges (through noise interaction, which we’ll get to later).

8. Slam Competition Format (Continued) • Typically, the host selects the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 scale, with one decimal point to help avoid ties) based on the poets' content and performance. • Though everyone who signs up has the opportunity to read in the first round, the lineup for subsequent rounds is determined by the judges' scores. In other words, the judges vote for which poets they want to see more work from.

9. The Rules Some slams have slight variations on the rules that Poetry Slam, Inc. has developed, but most adhere to these basic guidelines. The key rule in slam is that judges are selected from the audience, and those scores are used to determine who advances. Though rules vary from slam to slam, the basic rules are: • Each poem must be of the poet's own construction; • Each poet gets three minutes (plus a ten-second grace period) to read one poem. Everything over 3 minutes and ten seconds is a half of a point for every part of a ten second interval after that. • The poet may not use props, costumes or musical instruments; • Of the scores the poet received from the judges, the high and low scores are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0-30. • At our slam, we’ll do cumulative scores between each round (because people like big numbers).

10. History In 1984, construction worker and poet Marc Smith started a poetry reading at a Chicago jazz club, the Get Me High lounge, looking for a way to breathe life into the open mike format. The series, and its emphasis on performance, laid the groundwork for the brand of poetry that would eventually be exhibited in slam. In 1986, Smith approached Dave Jemilo, the owner of the Green Mill (a Chicago jazz club and former haunt of Al Capone), with a plan to host a weekly poetry competition on Sunday nights. Jemilo welcomed him, and the Uptown Poetry Slam was born on July 25 of that year. Smith drew on baseball and bridge terminology for the name, and instituted the basic features of the competition, including judges chosen from the audience and cash prizes for the winner. The Green Mill evolved into a Mecca for performance poets, and the Uptown Poetry Slam continues to run every Sunday night.

11. Audience Interaction • The official MC spiel of Poetry Slam, Inc. encourages the audience to respond to the poets or the judges in any way they see fit, and most slams have adopted that guideline. Audiences can boo or cheer at the conclusion of a poem, or even during a poem. Though not every slam is as exacting in its procedure for getting a poet off the stage, the vast majority of slams give their audience the freedom and the permission to express itself. • “Marc Smith.” “Who’s that?!” • Take off that black berét: know when to snap and when to clap. • Unofficial poetry slam motto: "The points are not the point; the point is poetry.”

12. But what if I forget? • That’s what the host is for. At every poetry slam, the host will help segway between poets and let the audience know what’s going on. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFaY8zpwrEE&feature=player_embedded • Another interesting take on a spiel: What you are about to witness is a poetry slam. The competitors, of whom there are 8, will perform their own original work, 3 minutes in time length or less. They will use no props, no animal acts and no musical accompaniment. The judges, of whom there are 5, will take those hard wrought words and score them, Olympic style, zero to ten. Zero... the worst poem ever written. So bad that the poet should be forced to play in traffic so we never have to hear it again. Ten... the perfect poem. World peace and spontaneous orgasms throughout the room. We'll drop the high, we'll drop the low, add them together and poof, we have a score. The poet with the highest combined score after two rounds is declared the winner. Judges, please use one decimal point as it helps avoid ties. Poets who go over 3 minutes are taken out back and shot. Either that or we give them a ten second grace period and then start deducting half a point for every 10 seconds they go over after that. Judges, don't worry about the time, we'll take care of it after you give your scores.