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To SLAM to DUNK perchance to RHYME;
National POETRY Slam, 200 poets hope to find their muse in Austin

shilanda l. woolridge, 08-13-1998.

The ninth annual National Poetry Slam -- staged at eight venues throughout Austin, from Wednesday through Aug. 22 -- is being touted as the nation' s largest competitive gathering of poets. In all, more than 200 poets (45 teams and 15 individuals, from the United States, Canada and Sweden) will be competing for almost $4,500 in prize money, with a grand prize of $2,000 for the best team and $500 for the top individual performer. But wait . . . before you envision dozens of people wandering through downtown warbling lines from ``Leaves of Grass,'' understand that there's a big difference between a poetry slam and an open-mic reading.

The Poetry Slam originated in the mid-1980s, when a Chicago poet named Marc Smith came up with the idea of a poetry competition to entertain the Sunday regulars at a bar named the Green Mill. To push it a little further, judges were chosen at random from the audience to ``score'' the poems. Several years and evolutions later, the phenomenon has caught on nationwide. Phil West, one of the coordinators for the Austin National Poetry Slams, says, ``I think it's more exciting than a traditional poetry reading because there's the competitive aspect and you see people trying to top one another. At an open mic reading, there's no real pressure to do that; essentially, it's poetry reading for other poets."

Fellow Austin National Slams coordinator Mike Henry concurs. "What poetry is about is people,'' he says. ``The slams have put the voice back into the audience and in the hands of the people. You don't need a Ph.D to know if a poem is good to you, or if it works for you, or if it makes you cry, laugh or think. It doesn't take anything, just being there.''

A poetry slam is like a lyrical boxing match that pits poets against other poets in a bout. During a nationals bout, there will be three teams of four poets as well as an individual poet taking turns performing their work. The teams can choose to perform a group piece during a member's slot, or that person can perform alone. Poets who perform alone have the opportunity to advance to the individual finals even if their team doesn't make it as a unit. Consequently, strategy comes into play when team members decide whose slot will be sacrificed for a group performance that may earn the entire team points. Five people randomly chosen from the audience before the bout will give each poem a score from 0.0 to 10.0, with 10 being the highest. The high and the low scores are dropped, and the three remaining scores are added. Each poet has a time limit of three minutes, with a 10- second grace period. After the grace period is passed, points will be deducted from the poet's final score.

Unlike theater or music performance, the poetry slam is a pared- down event because poets aren't permitted to use props, costumes or music. Yet the slams are able to offer the audience more. ``I think the poetry slam is the cream of performance in America. It's the mainline; there's no music, no instruments, no band,'' says Henry. ``There's just one person and a microphone. It's just an expression of creativity straight to the vein."

Poetry slamming and spoken word are on the rise. As a result, new slam communities are forming from coast to coast. The 1994 Lollapalooza alternative rock tour and the South by Southwest music festival had spoken-word shows. Record labels completely devoted to spoken word, such as Mouth Almighty, have provided national exposure to these forms. Local slam artist and musician Wammo has an album titled ``Fat Headed Stranger'' on Mouth Almighty , as does spoken-word artist Michelle Serros, who visited Austin recently to perform from her collection of poems titled ``Chicana Falsa.'' Building on the momentum are two films about poetry slamming: ``Slam Nation,'' a full-length documentary about the ' 96 nationals in Portland, Ore., and ``Slam,'' a film about an incarcerated poet who finds himself through a self-expression class. Both films will be shown during the nationals.

Though there's an immense amount of excitement surrounding poetry slams, not all poets share it. Local poet and writer Rudolph Malveaux says, ``I don't think that poetry should be a competition. It's an exchange of ideas and expression. When you start competing, it's more about one-up manship. The whole idea of the poetry slam is people trying to stroke each other's egos and saying something flippantly to meter. What works in slams is patently emotional and reactionary, and (it's) based on whether or not the people you're speaking to happen to agree with you. Also, there's politics that come with poetry slam cliques. If you don't know anybody, then you're nobody when you come to their venue."

Henry, however, has a different take on the competitive nature of the slams. ``It's about everybody driving each other to see who can do the best work,'' he says. ``It makes you a better performer, a better writer.'' Adds West: ``We've grown to love and admire poets who kick the snot out of us in competitions.''

Though Austin is becoming an ever-so-popular spot for eclectic festivals, it may be awhile before it sees the National Poetry Slam again. The rising popularity of spoken word has other cities vying for the nationals well into the millennium. Next year's competition will be in Chicago, while Providence, R.I., and San Francisco are vying for 2 000, and Seattle is calling dibs on 2 001.

Austin is considered a friendly slam site because of it s many venues and an open appreciation for live performance. Plus Austin's own slam team made a name for itself in the ' 95 and ' 96 nationals. This year's team of Susan Somers-Willet, Genevieve Van Cleve, Karyna McGlynn and Ernie Cline will be battling on home turf to claim a spot in the Aug. 22 finals at the Paramount Theatre.

TICKETS

* $3 -- Single Bouts - Sold at the venue door the night of the bout.

* $10 -- The Q-Pass - For all weekday bouts and late-night events including the semifinals on Aug. 21. Available at Waterloo Records (Sixth and Lamar) or at the AusTix ticket booth in the Austin Visitors Center, 201 W. Second St .

* $11 -- Finals at Paramount Theatre. Available in advance at the Paramount box office or by calling 469-SHOW.

MOVIES

* "Slam'' -- An Austin premiere of the winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cannes Camera d'Or award to be released this fall. ``Slam '' follows a young black poet in jail for petty theft charges. There he becomes acquainted with a female poet who teaches a self- expression class to the inmates. Alamo Drafth ouse. Tuesday 8 p.m., $2

* " Slam Nation'' -- This documentary on the ' 96 National Poetry Slam in Portland, Ore., gives an eagle-eye view of the slam culture and a behind-the-scenes look at the national competition. Alamo Drafth ouse. Tuesday 10 p.m.; Wednesday-Aug. 21 , 5:30 p.m. $2

NIGHT EVENTS

* THE VENUES

-- Electric Lounge: 302 Bowie St., 476-FUSE

-- Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: 409 Colorado St., 867-1839

-- La Zona Rosa: 612 W. Fourth St., 472-2293

-- Blondie's: 510 Rio Grande St., 472-7343

-- Ritz Upstairs: 320 E. Sixth St., 474-2270

-- Ruta Maya: Fourth and Lavaca streets, 472-9637

-- Twist: 505 Neches St., 320-TWST

* BOUT HIGHLIGHTS

(Bout One starts at 7p.m., Bout Two at 8:30p.m. and Bout Three at 10 p.m.)

Wednesday Bout One

-- Ann Arbor v. Bellwood, Ill. v. Boston v. Parmalee Cover (Watsonville, Calif.) at the Electric Lounge

-- Connecticut v. Greenville v. Chicago v. Jasim Mohameed (Rinkeby, Sweden) at the Alamo Drafthouse

-- Manhattan v. Montreal v. Winston-Salem v. DJ Renegade (Washington, D.C.) at the Ritz Upstairs

-- Albuquerque v. Venice Beach v. Mesa v. Al Letson (Jacksonville, Fla.) at Twist

Wednesday Bout Two

-- Providence v. Roanoke v. Dallas v. Paul Bullock (Lubbock) at Blondie' s

-- Austin v. Long Beach v. San Francisco v. Tony Gallucci (Kerrville) at Twist.

Aug. 20 Bout One

-- Ozarks v. Asheville v. Worcester v. Tony Gallucci (Kerrville) at Blondie's

Aug. 20 Bout Two

-- Ann Arbor v. Manhattan v. Cleveland v. Cin D. Quashie (Carol City, Fla. ) at La Zona Rosa

-- Greenville v. Hollywood/Los Feliz v. Los Angeles v. Stephanie Tillison (Santa Fe, N.M.) at Twist

Aug. 20 Bout Three

-- Vancouver v. Albuquerque v. Austin v. Rus t. Russell (Madison, Wis .) at the Electric Lounge

Aug. 21

Team semifinals: At the Electric Lounge, Blondie's and La Zona Rosa. Call the hot line (448-5284) Friday to find out when and where the 18 remaining teams will battle.

Individual semifinals: The 10 remaining individuals will battle it out in two rounds at the Electric Lounge at 10 p.m.

Aug. 22

Finals: The top four teams and six individuals compete for the championship at the Paramount Theatre at 8 p.m. The Asylum Street Spankers will open. The night includes a showcase of the best poems and performances that didn't make the finals.

DAY EVENTS (All free)

* WEDNESDAY

-- Masterpiece Theater: Slam Hall of Famers performing the poems that made the slam great. At Mojo's from 4:30-6 p.m.

* AUG. 20

-- Marc Smith: A reading with Chicago's father of the slam. At Book People from 2-3 p.m.

-- Night of the Chihuahua: Latino poet showcase featuring Kenn Rodriguez (Albuquerque), Danny Solis (Albuquerque), Marta Sanchez (Seattle), Guy Gonzalez (New York), Trinidad Sanchez (San Antonio) and many more. At Mojo's from 3-4:30 p.m.

-- Justin Chin, Jeff McDaniel and Tarin Towers. At Fringe Ware from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

* AUG. 21

-- The Truth About Superheroes: Gay and lesbian poet showcase featuring

Douglas A. Martin (Athens, Ga.), Ken Hunt (Madison, Wis.), Lyska Janacek (Fargo, N.D.), Justin Chin (San Francisco), Scott Klein (Detroit), Thea Iberall (Los Angeles) and many more. At Mojo's from 1-2:30 p.m.

-- Patricia Smith: Four-time poetry slam individual champion from Boston. At Book People from 2-3:30 p.m.

-- Chocolate City: African American poet showcase featuring Boogie- Man (Cleveland), Jerry Quickley (Los Angeles), DJ Renegade (Washington, D.C.), Roger Bonair-Agard (New York), Bruce Jackson (San Francisco) and many more. At Mojo's from 3-4:30 p.m.

-- Head-to-Head Haiku Slam . At Mojo's, 4:30-6 p.m.

* AUG. 22

-- Firestorm: An all-femme fatale reading series featuring Genevieve Van Cleve (Austin), Christina Springer (Pittsburgh), Lea Deschenes (Laguna Beach, Calif.), Sabrina Hayeem-Ladani (Albuquerque), Lisa Martinovic (Fayetteville, Ark.), Anne Mac Naughton (Taos) and many more. At Mojo's from 1-2:30 p.m.

-- Austin Cinemaker Co-op presents Exquisite Corpse Film Festival: A super 8 film screening, made collaboratively, modeled on the poetry writing exercise . At Public Domain from 4-5 p.m.

INFORMATION

* National Poetry Slam hot line: 448-5284

* Want to know the history of slam? Point your browser here: http://www.tezcat.com/~/slam/index.html

* To get a complete schedule of events or find out more about the nationals, point your browser to http://slam.home.texas.net/98Nationals/

* To find out more about the Austin slam scene and the Austin slam team that will perform in the competition , point your browser to http://slam.home.texas.net

* Meet the Austin slam team at http:// slam.home.texas.net/1998team.html