Poetry slam
A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery.
Poetry slams began in Chicago in the 1980s,[1] with the first slam competition designed to move poetry recitals from academia to a popular audience. American poet Marc Smith, believing the poetry scene at the time was "too structured and stuffy", began experimenting by attending open-microphone poetry readings, and then turning them into slams by introducing the element of competition.[2]
The performances at a poetry slam are judged as much on enthusiasm and style as content, and poets may compete as individuals or in teams. The judging is often handled by a panel of judges, typically five, who are usually selected from the audience. Sometimes the poets are judged by audience response.[3]
Format[edit]
In a poetry slam, members of the audience are chosen by a master of ceremonies or host to act as judges for the event. In the national slam, there are five judges, but smaller slams generally have three. After each poet performs, each judge awards a score to that poem. Scores generally range between zero and ten. The highest and lowest score are dropped, giving each performance a rating between zero and thirty points.
Before the competition begins, the host will often bring up a "sacrificial" poet, whom the judges will score in order to calibrate their judging.
A single round at a standard slam consists of performances by all eligible poets. Most slams last multiple rounds, and many involve the elimination of lower-scoring poets in successive rounds. An elimination format might run 8-4-2; eight poets in the first round, four in the second, and two in the last. Some slams do not eliminate poets at all. The Green Mill usually runs its slams with six poets in the first round. At the end of the slam, the poet with the highest number of points earned is the winner.
The Boston Poetry Slam[12] takes a different approach; it uses the 8-4-2 three-round format, but the poets go head-to-head in separate bouts within the round.
Props, costumes, and music are forbidden in slams,[13] which differs greatly from its immediate predecessor, performance poetry. Hedwig Gorski, the founder of performance poetry as a distinct genre, saw props, costumes, and music as essential for a complete theatrical experience while also following theorist Jerzy Grotowski's Poor Theater by blurring lines between the real person, actor, and speakers in scripted literary art.[14] Other rules for slams enforce a time limit of three minutes (and a grace period of ten seconds), after which a poet's score may be docked according to how long the poem exceeded the limit. Many youth slams, however, allow the poets up to three and a half minutes on stage. The slams at the Individual World Poetry Slam and Women of the World Poetry Slam competitions had a 1-minute round, a 2-minute round, a 3-minute round, and a 4-minute round.
As of 2011, four poets who have competed at National Poetry Slam have won National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Fellowships for Literature:
As of 2017, one poet who has competed at National Poetry Slam has won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Tyehimba Jess,[43] who competed as a part of Chicago's Green Mill team twice.[44]
A number of poets belong to both academia and slam:
Henry S. Taylor, winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, competed in the 1997 National Poetry Slam as an individual and placed 75th out of 150.
While slam poetry has often been ignored in traditional higher learning institutions, it slowly is finding its way into courses and programs of study. For example, at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, slam poetry is now available as a minor course of study.[48]
In Japan[edit]
In Japan, Katsunori Kusunoki, a professor of communications at Toyo University, found a way to incorporate slam poetry into his students’ lives; allowing them to showcase their competitiveness and love of poetry by putting together “poetry boxing” matches. Kusunoki created annual “poetry boxing” tournaments in order to provide a medium for expression and social interaction .[58] The rules are “16 boxers face off in pairs in competitions of stand-up verse that last for three minutes. Winners compete in series of challenges such as timed presentation and a round of improvised jousting.” A master of ceremonies adds to the event by providing nicknames for the competitors.[58] Kusunoki's goal was to try to get his students to open up by breaking language barriers and expressing themselves.[58]