What the heck is a 'Poetry Slam?'

At a Poetry Slam participants are given three minutes to step up to the mic and perform a poem of their own construction. No props. No costumes. No musical accompaniment. After the poet finishes, he or she is scored by a panel of 5 judges who have been selected from the audience. Scale of 0.0 to 10.0 . . . just like the Olympics. Judges give scores based on both content and performance. The high and low scores are dropped - the remaining three are added together - and the poem has a score. As the night progresses, poet after poet will take the stage, each attempting to impact the audience (and the judges) just a little more deeply than the last person did. The audience is encouraged to respond to the poet (and the judges) in whatever way they see fit-- cheering, booing, laughing, heckling. Anything is fair game. There's an MC that keeps the show moving and in the end someone wins a little cash, some bragging rights, and the rare and tangible proof that they connected with the audience. An audience that just got to see a lot of great poetry and have a heck of a lot of fun . . . that's what the Slam is all about. Brainchild of Chicagoan Marc Smith, the Slam has evolved over the last decade on the strength of its precepts; involving the audience, taking away the safety net, and making poetry readings real, visceral experiences instead of the overly polite, staid events that many poetry readings had become. The Slam has become the flagship of the resurgence of the spoken word craze.

It's the sport of spoken word.

And each year, poetry slammers converge on a previously agreed upon city to circle the wagons for four days of knock-down, drag-out poetic battle called the National Poetry Slam. This August, Austin, Texas will proudly play host to teams of poets representing 45 cities, a system that inserts team dynamics, multi-voice performances and group strategy in to the usually singular art of performing poetry. Six venues will host the first two nights of tournament competition. The field will slim to 18 teams for the semi-final night and then culminate in a final four-team bout which will take place in the majestic Paramount Theater in a high-stakes battle for thousands of dollars and immeasurable amounts of pride. During the week of Nationals, Austin not only gets the best of the best in competition, but also in a variety of daytime showcases and competitions, not to mention witnessing first hand the intense reunion of the National Poetry Slam family as they celebrate their art, their passion, and each other.