Sound like fun? The Poets' Asylum holds both just-for-fun themed slams
and open slams. Check out the Sunday schedule for
the dates of upcoming slams.| What is Slam? | The MC Spiel | Women of the World Poetry Slam | National Poetry Slam | Individual World Poetry Slam | Archived Info |
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The Poets' Asylum has elected not to send a team to the National Poetry Slam in 2010. The decision was made based on a number of factors including declining interest in the slam and fundraising difficulties. Slammaster Bill MacMillan is happy to talk with anyone about the decision, just snag him at one of the Sunday night readings.
The Poets' Asylum will continue to hold just-for-fun slams throughout the coming year. Some of the slams will have a theme or a change in some aspect of the usual rules (time limit, props, etc). Everyone is welcome to participate in these slams and we'd love to hear your voice.
We're glad you asked that... Slam poetry can be moving, funny and deadly serious, sometimes all in the same poem. 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. A poetry slam is a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience.
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.
Most slams consist of two rounds, though team semi-final and final consist of more rounds. The winner is the poet with the highest combined score at the end of the slam.
Sound like fun? The Poets' Asylum holds both just-for-fun themed slams
and open slams. Check out the Sunday schedule for
the dates of upcoming slams.
Looking for more info? Head on over to the PSi FAQ page for all the info you need.
| The points are not the
point; the point is poetry!!! -- Allan Wolf, former slammaster, Asheville, NC |
As with all competitions there are rules to follow. For most slams Worcester follows the rules as laid out by PSi with respect to time penalties, etc. The basics are covered in the MC spiel, a variation of which follows.
What you are about to witness is a poetry slam. The competitors, of whom there are 8, will perform their own original work, 3 minutes in time length or less. They will use no props, no animal acts and no musical accompaniment.The judges, of whom there are 5, will take those hard wrought words and score them, Olympic style, zero to ten. Zero... the worst poem ever written. So bad that the poet should be forced to play in traffic so we never have to hear it again. Ten... the perfect poem. World peace and spontaneous orgasms throughout the room. We'll drop the high, we'll drop the low, add them together and poof, we have a score. The poet with the highest combined score after two rounds is declared the winner. Judges, please use one decimal point as it helps avoid ties.
Poets who go over 3 minutes are taken out back and shot. Either that or we give them a ten second grace period and then start deducting half a point for every 10 seconds they go over after that. Judges, don't worry about the time, we'll take care of it after you give your scores.
That just about covers the structure and rules. One last thought... Worcester has always tried to stay true to the spirit of Slam. We look at Slam as a friendly competition that is meant to be fun. We try not to take ourselves, or the competition, too seriously. You'll find great poets and poetry at the Slams run by the Asylum. We hope you enjoy the show.
The 2010 edition of Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWps) will be held March 10-13, 2010 in Columbus, OH. WOWps is an all-woman PSi event create by women for women poetry slam competitors. Poets who live their lives as women will be eligible to participate in WOWps. 18 poets will be invited as legacy poets who have been a part of the National Poetry Slam in the past (before 2000 NPS) to bring those voices back to the audiences.
The National Poetry Slam returns to St. Paul, MN in 2010. Stay tuned for additional info as it becomes available.
The 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS) will be held October 2010. More info when it becomes available.
Information on the past nine years in Worcester Slam can be found in the links below.
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
| 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |