poetry slam

A poetry slam is a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Everyone who signs up has the opportunity to read in the first round; the lineup for subsequent rounds is determined by the judges' scores. 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. If the poet goes over time, points will be deducted from the total score.
* The poet may not use props, costumes or musical instruments;
* Of the scores the poet received from the five judges, the high and low scores are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0-30.

Slam is engineered for the audience, whereas a number of open mike 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. Audiences can boo or cheer at the conclusion of a poem, or even during a poem.

The best poetry slams include a wide variety of writing and performance styles. This, of course, depends on who shows up to compete and-- beyond the first round-- what the judges see fit to hear more of. The only requirement for judging is that the audience member not be a family member or intimate friend of any of the competitors.

The best slam poets are those who are skilled at both theatrical performance (stage presence, timing, voice modulation, body language and emoting) and pure poetic writing (metaphor, insight, brevity, sonance, wit).

for examples of good poetry slam performances, see: Andrea Gibson, Anis Mojgani, Rachel McKibbens, Robbie Q. Telfer, JohnMark Huscher

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Grunge Poetry

a form of poetry free of any actual literary rules. a cluster fuck of styles & inspirations. usually involving the darker elements of modern day society. coined by author devin pugliano

"fuck sunshine & butterflies. i'll just stick to writing grunge poetry."

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poetry doula

n.) one who helps poems to be born, particularly one who assists the birthing mother to breathe through the process, knowing that this has been done before, again and again since time immemorial, and will be done again.

If it wasn't for my poetry doula, I would have had to deliver that hexameter by cesarian, and needed to resort to vintage grapes to ease the pain of dilation!

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Slam Poetry

A type of poetry expressing a persons personal story and/or struggle usually in an intensely emotional style. Very powerful, sincere, and moving.

Katie Mkkai's poem "Pretty"

"Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices" has many fantastic examples of Slam Poetry

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Bathroom Poetry

Short, poetic like inscriptions scribbled with sharpie marker on bathrooms stalls/walls, that are appropriately of toilet humor nature. Bathroom poetry can be found in the restroom facilities of gas stations, campgrounds, bus depots, schools and airports, with the most original works done by the cleverest of bathroom patrons. Great for something to read while pinching one off.

Bathroom Poetry:

"Here i sit, so broken hearted, paid a dime, but only farted."

"Some come here to read the walls, I come here to jiggle
my balls."

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Abrupt Poetry

A poem, normally a spoof of a well known rhyme, with an abrupt, surprising, and often explicit ending.

Roses are red, violets are blue, fuck you whore.

Roses are red, violets are blue
I like spaghetti, lets go fuck.

Hickory dickory dock,
suck my fucking cock.

All examples of abrupt poetry.

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Hood Poetry

Rap music

Guy1: You hear that new gucci?
Guy2: yeah, that shits hood poetry