Inside the World of Poetry Slams

Imagine a poet performing on stage in a verse competition against other poets, in front of an involved and electrified audience. This exists and it is an increasingly popular trend: the poetry slam. The poetry slam is a competition where poets perform in front of an audience who votes on their performances. In poetry slam or performative poetry, the competition lies in expressing one's creative uniqueness through the art of words, to establish an exciting communication flow between oneself and the public. To do this, poets challenge themselves to create engaging verses that inspire the audience to reflect and recognize themselves in them. These are clear concepts and direct messages to the spectators, and the most charismatic and significant ones win the race.

Xoán Abeleira Reciting Spoken Word (2017); Xoan Abeleira, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons, via artincontext

The poetry slam was born in 1984 thanks to Marc Smith, a poet and construction worker, who began organizing and promoting poetry readings in front of the audience of the Get Me High Lounge, a jazz club in Chicago. Marc Smith aimed to involve an increasingly wider audience by bringing poetic art to the stage. In 1986, he began collaborating with Dave Jemilo, who at the time owned the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, officially creating the first poetry slam in history.

Make sure you know the terms correctly: poetry slam and slam poetry are not the same thing. The first refers to the competition format, its dynamics, and its ritual. The second instead identifies the various genres of poetry recited during poetry slams: from spoken word to rap poetry to stand-up poetry, including all sorts of variations.

The initiative was successful and began to spread quickly to other cities, especially New York and San Francisco. After that, the poetry slam was known throughout the U.S., and from then on it became a global art form. France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were the countries most immediately receptive to performance poetry.

Photo by Marvin Ruppert on Unesco.de

But what are the rules for participating? And what happens during a poetry slam show? First of all, registration for the competition is open to everyone: anyone can try their hand at the art of composing and reciting poems that can involve spectators, trying to win. It is a form of popular and declamatory poetry, practiced in places frequented by anyone such as pubs, bars, theatres, and association spaces. Five jurors are randomly selected from the audience and asked to vote for each performance. The important thing is that none of the jurors have a connection with the poet-performers. Alternatively, the entire audience can vote by acclamation or show of hands.

The show is conducted by an EMCEE (Master of Ceremony), who first explicitly asks each juror if they know the competing performers and, if so, changes jurors.

From here the competition comes to life: the poets are introduced who recite their verses in turn and compete with each other. The performance takes place a cappella and, during the performance, you cannot use music, objects or stage clothes: you go on stage exactly as you are. Freedom of expression applies in the competition: you can act, read, chant, sing, rap, and improvise on free themes. Only sometimes, in specific competitions, performances on a pre-established theme may be requested.

The characteristic aspect of performance poetry lies in the connection that the poet manages to achieve between writing and performance on stage, and between the latter and the audience. It is no coincidence that these shows have an intense rhythm and energy, capable of bringing spectators to applause.

You have three to five minutes to perform: this varies depending in the national rules of reference. Once the poet has finished the performance, the audience applauds and votes. And at the end of the entire poetry slam, there will be a vote for the best poet-performer.

The poetry slam's format fosters a deeply interactive artistic competition, in which the reciprocity in communication between poets and the public merges into a unique involvement, with no holds barred. And without excluding any participant.

Performative poetry manages to shape a perfect union between poetic writing and theatrical acting. This format not only promotes poetic art by making it more accessible to the public but also brings literature enthusiasts closer to niche genres or subcultures. The poet's live performance helps people understand the poetic genre and its linguistic influences, even if these references may refer to a particular socio-cultural context.

The competitive and challenging aspect of the poetry slam makes the scene captivating for a large audience because the mere fact of witnessing such an original competition attracts many curious people. In this way, more and more people enter the world of contemporary poetry, gradually nourishing their interest in the genre. Furthermore, thanks to this, we all have the wonderful opportunity to discover new authors and, why not, become emerging authors ourselves.

Currently, there are not only poetry slams at a local level but there are also competitions that have European and global importance. For example, the European Poetry Slam Championship takes place every and the Poetry Slam World Cup is also held annually. The poet-performers who have been crowned most often thanks to these high-profile competitions are Saul Williams and Patricia Smith, who are true champions of contemporary performance poetry.

Poetry slam gives rise to a dynamic, eclectic, and compelling art form. Through it, avant-garde poets make themselves known to the general public, with the strength of a fresh and modern style, increasing consensus among those who do not usually frequent traditional literary circles or who are not passionate about poetry. It is precisely in the fusion of all these ingredients that the uniqueness and value of the poetry slam lies, a lively point of convergence of the creative and cultural energies coming from all of us.