poetry slams

Hey, hey, HEY! I totally do poetry slams. I have participated in the 3rd Worcester slam and got through the UK alcomers tryouts and performed at the Cheltenham festival. I am very surprised ABC tales doesn't know about it, despite all their cheltenham publicity. Where were you guys? I was on stage in my suit giving it rhyme! anyone in the midlands, come to the 4th worcester poetry slam on 15th nov. e-mail me for details (stephenmurphy76@hotmail.com) ste

Arthur, could re-post that explanation in haiku form? Life's too shor

you missed out 'you', Bash. write a 17 syllable apology, or else!

Nature poetry slam phuck hard critical performance up against the tree

I've seen lots of 'Performance Poets'. They all suck! It's the triumph of ego over talent.

you seem to be a triumph of compassion over science.

to be fair ... i have seen a lot of performance poetry ... some of it sucks and some of it is good ... i have been struck by the male bias in performance that i have seen ... and how a lot of it involves profuse sweating and swearing ... but i have been moved ... both ways ... there seems to be a terrific snobbery between "page" poets and "performance" poets which works in both directions ...

First someone asked me to summarise slams in haiku form so here goes Stand up poetry Slam it at them in person They seem to like it Yes, lots of slammers swear at least of its a grown up event but lack of censorship is good for poetrya nd creativity - I only swaer if my poem demands it, which is rare, a performer who just swears for cheap laughs is likely to get booed off most slam platforms - the audience wants quality not gratuatousness. Yes, there can be tension with those who just write poems, but theyt wouldn't baulk at reading their work in a bookshop, the difference is that a slammer is muuch more keent o interact with the audience, and not stuck in an ivory tower where the people to recite to matter les s than the actual poems composed - poets need readers and an audience, to me a poet unprepaed to talk to people and present his cvoice might as well call himself anonymous. Arthur Chappell arthurchappell@clara.net www.arthurchappell.clara.net/contents.htm

I would like to be stuck in ivory's tower slam bam thankyou ma'am with apologies to things fishy

poetry slams and the language involved make me think of basketball, which is never a good thing.

Now have detailed feature on slams inspired bythis thread and a few like it at www.arthurchappell.clara.net/slams.htm - the basketball conection is interesting as Marc Smiththe founder of the Slam poetry scene got the name for it from American baseball tournaments, so youare close there aren't you? AC arthurchappell@clara.net

Er...what, exactly *are* 'poetry slams'? Sounds pretty scary to me...

POETRY SLAMS What is a slam? OK, Slam poetry is basically performance poetry in which the poet(s) are put in direct competition with one another, and usually given a strict time limit (set according to how many poets are involved but often a few minutes) and invited give their poem to an audience, and then judged by either a randomly selected group of judges or a guest poet who acts as a judge, - the format may vary with different kinds of slam events, winners get prizes, others don't - the important thing is to entertain the audience - they are tremendous fun to do - I love them. I'm a regular Slam participant, entering Manchester England's Creatures Of The Night poetry Slams and any others I come across, they are fun, competitive and often involve poets of tremendous calibre, and er... me. They are a great way to reach a wide local audience, and many people find time to talk to you afterwards too, they are friendly and of huge value in poetry terms, as poetry is best spoken and read and recited aloud anyway - it is about how words sound as much as how they are written, so tone and inflection in delivery becomes as important as it is for a song writer, I would sooner see poets in slams than read them off the page, though that is in itself a marvellous thing - to really understand slams you should definmnately attend one somewhere, - I reckon most people will be hooked easily and eager to perform themselves. - cover art to my own slam poetry CD is online at www.arthurchappell.clara.net/bard.gif I was also recently asked Do the poets swear too much at Slams? Slam poets needn't shock - some certainly do use the F word more than necessary, but most are good enough poets not to have to unless necessary - I have nearly 200 poems of various levels of merit, only in about three have I used the F word so far, usually when I think it is relevant. Generally if sensitive to worries you may be offended, check with the organisers first as to whether there is a lot of adult content, generally if no children are to be present, i.e., if it takes place at night or in a bar, take it as read someone will swear a bit or even a lot, Does a bad performance mean the poem is likely to be regarded as bad? Are allpoems suitable for slam performances? Some poems are best read from the page, generally a slammer won't read out things like Haiku or poems with fancy shapes, i.e., one of mine about quicksand is written to slope down off the page as the narrator sinks..... etc so that wouldn't do - but most poems are fine, - of course, nervousness can make a good poem come across unclearly, it is important to practice and rehearse, non-performing at all is just like having a song as a lyric sheet, - you expect the Beatles to sing, not hand you a book of lyrics, performance poets take the chance of fluffing lines, as we do on occassion, I have sometimes you may have a chance to start again, sometimes it is possible to get through despite it, even the best ice skaters fall over sometimes, in many ways the livens of a slam makes it more daring and dangerous as well as exhilarating - it takes practice, it takes nerve and generally it goes well, - it is like any form of acting or stage performance, know the stuff well, project the voice, use the mike right, etc the main ttrip up can be lighting, if you read off the page the lighting can be bad when you get up as it is designed to put you whiter the audience see you so you find you can barely read your poems, print them big and bold or memorise them thoroughly - A slam can be a tightrope walking act, without a safety net - it's all part of the fun AC and the rights t to your poems stay with you so you can still publish them anyway and get the best of both worlds. arthurchappell@clara.net www.arthurchappell.clara.net/contents.htm

Gawd, what a lengthy (but explicit) explanation - thanks, Arthur. Still sounds scary, though. I perfer to hide away behind me PC, so nothing for moi, I don't think. Er..apart from the fact I don't 'do' poetry anyway... Might be something for Our Fish, though, she likes to use the 'f' word on occassion. Ooops, sorry Fish!

well ... andrea! ... guilty as charged i'm afraid ... and yes have flaunted the odd swear word at poetry slams in my day ... oooooh a few years ago in hackney ... chat's palace was it? ... can't rightly remember now ... perhaps i need some of that stuff that improves memory ... forgot what it's called ... llama and i had a duo called Gas & Air and we had many popular numbers ... including "the way men walk" and "rampant sex" ... never won though ...

Ginko biloba, Fish, thas what you need... And bromide.