The art of slam poetry and me have been friends for about 3 years now. Our relationship has been tumultuous and some days we argue like siblings. We can have conversations that last for a few fleeting minutes yet seem like hours have gone by. We try to be honest with each other.
A Poetry Slam is a for all intents and purposes a competition wherein judges are selected from members of the audience. Judges can be between 3 - 5 people and scoring is generally out of 10, the highest and lowest scores are dropped to avoid any bias.
Before the competition begins, the host will invite a 'sacrificial poet' to perform so that the judges can practise their scoring.
Slams can be held in several rounds for eg: 8-4-2 eight poets in the first round, four in the second and two in the last round. Some slams do not eliminate poets at all and just have the top three scores as winners.
Props, music and costumes are forbidden in slams or any action to sway an audience. This includes the host being superfluous with adulation and support towards certain poets.
As legend goes slam poetry was created by construction worker and poet Marc Smith in 1985 at a Chicago Jazz Club called the Get Me High Lounge.
Marc went on to organise a weekly poetry slam at The Green Mill (another jazz club in Chicago) in 1986 - on 25 July the Uptown Poetry Slam was born and is still going strong.
Slam has since travelled to every corner of the world and while there are those that are anti-slam, it is an art form that is thriving and pushing poets to showcase their talent.
I checked out one such slam event not so long ago in Bombay/Mumabai - The Big Mic was created in 2008 and has since been supporting poetry, comedy, cinema, rap and live music in this colourful city.
The slam was held at The Hive in Khar West, a popular space for creativity and all things expressive.
According to their website - the slam is supposed to have 20 contestants - contestants are supposed to register online when the event goes live. However, this wasn't the case as last minute registrations were accepted which kind of defeats the purpose of a time-bound registration and advertising limited slots in the first place.
The venue was a nice one - a cosy room with a well lit stage - a wonderful audience that stayed put right until the end and a very lively host.
There didn't seem to be a time limit for each performance and some poets read out multiple poems which with the extended number of poets competing meant that if you were one of the last few poets to perform you may have felt a bit pressed for time. This didn't seem to deter the host from reading out quite a few of his own poems which I thought could have been avoided. But that really is a very small criticism for the night.
All in all the energy and vibe of the audience and performers was really warm and engaging. This is definitely an event to check out and be a part of.
The poetry slams are held every month and encourages new artists to compete. There is also an option to come up and read as part of an open mic while the judges are collating their results and picking the winners. English and Hindi performers are judged separately and win separately.
Keep an eye out on The Big Mic Facebook page for updates on other events as well.
A Poetry Slam is a for all intents and purposes a competition wherein judges are selected from members of the audience. Judges can be between 3 - 5 people and scoring is generally out of 10, the highest and lowest scores are dropped to avoid any bias.
Before the competition begins, the host will invite a 'sacrificial poet' to perform so that the judges can practise their scoring.
Slams can be held in several rounds for eg: 8-4-2 eight poets in the first round, four in the second and two in the last round. Some slams do not eliminate poets at all and just have the top three scores as winners.
Props, music and costumes are forbidden in slams or any action to sway an audience. This includes the host being superfluous with adulation and support towards certain poets.
As legend goes slam poetry was created by construction worker and poet Marc Smith in 1985 at a Chicago Jazz Club called the Get Me High Lounge.
Marc went on to organise a weekly poetry slam at The Green Mill (another jazz club in Chicago) in 1986 - on 25 July the Uptown Poetry Slam was born and is still going strong.
Slam has since travelled to every corner of the world and while there are those that are anti-slam, it is an art form that is thriving and pushing poets to showcase their talent.
I checked out one such slam event not so long ago in Bombay/Mumabai - The Big Mic was created in 2008 and has since been supporting poetry, comedy, cinema, rap and live music in this colourful city.
The slam was held at The Hive in Khar West, a popular space for creativity and all things expressive.
According to their website - the slam is supposed to have 20 contestants - contestants are supposed to register online when the event goes live. However, this wasn't the case as last minute registrations were accepted which kind of defeats the purpose of a time-bound registration and advertising limited slots in the first place.
The venue was a nice one - a cosy room with a well lit stage - a wonderful audience that stayed put right until the end and a very lively host.
There didn't seem to be a time limit for each performance and some poets read out multiple poems which with the extended number of poets competing meant that if you were one of the last few poets to perform you may have felt a bit pressed for time. This didn't seem to deter the host from reading out quite a few of his own poems which I thought could have been avoided. But that really is a very small criticism for the night.
All in all the energy and vibe of the audience and performers was really warm and engaging. This is definitely an event to check out and be a part of.
The poetry slams are held every month and encourages new artists to compete. There is also an option to come up and read as part of an open mic while the judges are collating their results and picking the winners. English and Hindi performers are judged separately and win separately.
Keep an eye out on The Big Mic Facebook page for updates on other events as well.
