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Contact Information: Vermillion Literary Project USD, Dakota Hall 212 414 E. Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069 phone: 605-677-5229 fax: 605-677-5298 projlit@usd.edu Last Modified: 05/27/07 |
 About the VLP Poetry SlamWhat is 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. What is a poetry slam?A poetry slam is an event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Typically, the host or another organizer selects the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 scale) based on the poet's content and performance.
Who gets to participate? The VLP poetry slams are open to everyone who wishes to participate. 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. What are the rules?The basic rules are as follows:
Slam is engineered for the audience, whereas open-mic readings tend to be a supportive, non-competitive environment 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. What can the audience do?The VLP encourages the audience to respond to the poets or the judges in any way they see fit. Audiences can boo or cheer at the conclusion of a poem or even during a poem, although we do think it's a good idea to be as supportive of the poets as possible, to encourage further participation at future VLP poetry slams and thereby strengthen our local literary scene. Booing judges' scores--well, that's an entirely different matter! The vast majority of slams give their audience the freedom and the permission to express itself. What kind of poetry is read at VLP slams?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. How do I win a poetry slam?Winning a poetry slam requires some measure of skill and a huge dose of luck. The judges' tastes, the audience's reactions, and the poets' performances all shape a slam event, and what wins at one slam might not get a poet into the second round the next time. There's no formula for winning a slam, although you become a stronger poet and performer the same way you get to Carnegie Hall--practice, practice, practice. Anyone in the audience is qualified to serve as a judge, and, so, competitors can safely assume that some of the judges may not know very much about poetry. This takes the sting out of losing and forces a bit of humility upon the lucky winners. Of course, when you lose a title, you know it's got to be the judges' lack of sophistication that cost you the title. When you win, you might find yourself wondering, "Where did they ever come up with such discerning judges?" (Thanks to poet and slammer Geof Hewitt for this explanation.) How did poetry slam start?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-mic 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. A good source to check out is the anthology, Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry. You can purchase this text at www.poetryslam.com and also find additional information on that website. Does slam have a motto?Former Asheville, N.C. slam master Allan Wolf coined the phrase, "The points are not the point; the point is poetry" prior to the 1994 National Poetry Slam in Asheville. The phrase has become a mantra of sorts, reminding poets and organizers that the goal of slam is to grow poetry's audience. New York City poet Taylor Mali, a member of multiple championship teams, has modified the motto to read, "The points are not the point; the point is to get more points than anyone else," but we're pretty sure he's got his tongue planted firmly in cheek when he says that. This page is largely drawn from and inspired by Poetry Slam, Inc. (with their permission): http://www.poetryslam.com/. The Vermillion Literary Project reserves the right to change the rules and make any adaptations necessary to best meet the needs of our local literary community with respect to our VLP poetry slams. For slam judge instructions, see http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/slamjudgeinstructions.cfm.
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