| 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 select the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 or one to 10 scale) based on the poet's content and performance. What are the rules? 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, 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. How does it differ from an open mike reading? 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. |
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| Poetry Slam Links & Info * Dallas Slams * San Antonio Puro Slam * Poetry Slam Inc. * Poetry Slam Founder: Mark Kelly * E-Poets Network * Austin Poetry Slam * Ballabajoomba - Corpus Christi Poetry Slam |
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