The summer is hot and so is the poetry!
Starting in July we challenge our poets to bring us their best in 3 minutes, but can you move us in 2 minutes? Can you deliver a poem in 1 minute that will bring an audience to their feet?
Here’s how it will go down!
6 poets will compete each night in the hopes of being crowned the 3 – 2 – 1 SLAM champion and securing a spot as the 2012 Edmonton Representative at the 2013 Vancouver Indies!
What is a Poetry Slam?
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.
Who can Slam?
Anyone who has original works of poetry is invited to join! Poets are to have 3 poems prepared; each poem should be no more than 3 minutes long. Sign up for the slam will be done in advance up to one hour before the Slam. Only 6 poets will slam a night. Spots for the slam are first come first serve!
What are the rules?
- There are 3 rounds in a slam
- Each poet will perform one 3 minute poem in Round 1, a 2 minute poem in Round 2 and a 1 minute poem in round 3!
- Time is started as soon as the poet engages the audience, whether by body language or speech
- The poem must be an original written by the poet performing it. If the poem exceeds the allotted time for the round, a 10 second grace period is given. After that 0.5 points will be deducted from the poet score for every 10 seconds over the time allotted.
- The poets cumulative score at the end of the 3 rounds will determine the winner for the night
- No props, no music, no costumes and only one poet may read at a time.
- The top 2 poets from each slam night will advance to finals on September 25th.
How is it judged?
- Judges will be chosen at random from the audience members. The rest of the audience is encouraged to influence the judges, by cheering for their favourite poet.
- Poets are judged based on the quality of their written work, performance and audience reaction. The judges will be using a numeric scale, 1 – being not so good to 10 – being excellent.
- The highest and the lowest scores are dropped and an average of the remaining points is used as that poets final score for the round.
- The poet with the highest cumulative score for of the 3 rounds wins the slam.
- The top 2 poets from each slam night advance to finals.
When are the qualifying slams?
July 17
July 31
August 14 – No Slam
August 28
September 11
Finals: September 25
Please note we will be charging $5 at the door on slam nights as part of our fundraising efforts to support the winner of the 3 – 2 – 1 SLAM series at the 2013 Vancouver Indies and for ongoing Breath In Poetry Slams.
We hope to see you all there!!
