'Poetry Slam' as a mode of popularising poetry

In this week's Cultural Scene, I want to examine a new trend in global poetry; the Poetry Slam as a mode of popularising poetry particularly among young students. Poetry Slam has been successfully practised in countries such as Canada, USA, and Singapore where it has been used in schools as a tool of popularising poetry among young students. Poetry Slam occupied a prominent place at the recently concluded LitUp 2010, Emerging Writers and Performers' Festival in Singapore.

At a time, the interest in poetry as a mainstream subject of literature is declining, it is pertinent to examine Poetry Slam which primarily encourages students to write and appreciate poetry on a sporting platform. The performing aspects in Poetry Slam have made it popular among students who consider it a game rather than an exercise in poetry.

History of poetry slam

Reciting poetry is a part of Sri Lankan way of life and it is evident from our own folk-poetry tradition. The idea of competition in poetry is common in many cultures including ancient Romans and Greeks. The Greeks held play festivals and the Romans held dynastic festivals in which poetry contests played a prominent role. There are references to poetry competitions in Spanish tradition. In Japan Basho was a judge in Haiku and Tanku poetry contest.

According to the literature I reviewed, the concept of modern Poetry Slam was started in Chicago in November 1984. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia states: "Marc Smith is credited with starting the poetry slam at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago in November 1984. In July 1986, the slam moved to its permanent home, the Green Mill Jazz Club. In 1990, the first National Poetry Slam took place in Fort Mason, San Francisco, involving a team from Chicago, a team from San Francisco, and an individual poet from New York. As of 2008, the National Poetry Slam has grown and currently features approximately 80 certified teams each year, culminating in five days of competition. "

The first National Poetry Slam was held in Fort Mason, San Francisco in 1990. A team from Chicago and a poet from New York took part in the event. The word 'Slam' like Grand Slam indicates the sporty nature of the competition.

By 2008, poetry slam established well and spread into diverse parts of the globe. Currently there are approximately 80 certified teams participating in National poetry slams in five days competition. Although the origin of the poetry slam can be traced back to Ireland, poetry slams have spread throughout the globe with poetry slam scenes in Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Austria, America, Hawaii, Israel, Switzerland, Nepal, the Netherlands, UK, New Zealand, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Sarajevo, Bosnia, Denmark, South Korea, India and Greece.

Normally, in poetry slam events, the hosts act as judges and after each poet performs, the judges award a score to that poet. Generally the scores range between zero to ten. The highest and lowest score are dropped, giving each performance a rating between zero and thirty points. In standard slam competitions, there are five judges.

Before the competition begins, the host will often bring up a "sacrificial poet," which the judges will score in order to calibrate their judging.

A single round at a slam consists of performances by all eligible poets. Most slams last multiple rounds, and many involve the elimination of lower-scoring poets in successive rounds. A standard elimination rubric might run 8-4-2, with eight poets in the first round, four in the second, and two in the last. Some slams completions do not eliminate poets at all.

Props, costumes, and music are generally forbidden in slams. Additionally, most slams enforce a time limit of three minutes (and a grace period of ten seconds), after which a poet's score may be docked according to how long the poem exceeded the limit.

Poetics of poetry slam

One of the significant aspects of poetry slam is that it can feature a wide range of voices, styles, cultural traditions and approaches to the construction and performing poetry. Some poets draw heavily on other traditions such as hip-hop music, dub poetry, rhythmic and politicised genres belonging to black as in West India while others follow non-rhythmic narrative formula for performance.

One of the primary aims of the slam is to challenge the orthodox views and ideas of poetry, considering poetry purely over their literary value. The prominent characteristic that comes to light in poetry slam is the performing aspects of poetry against their literary value. It is one of the best methods of popularising poetry among children before advancing them to read and appreciate classical poetry or what some poets term out as 'Page poetry'. However, there is a school of criticism that the poetry slam would destroy the power of words which is the medium of poetry due to over stressing the performing aspects of poetry in poetry slams. What is important, however, is that poetry slam can create enthusiasm and interest particularly among young audiences in appreciating poetry although slam functions on a sporting platform.

Given its ability to engage children and young audience, poetry slam would be an ideal platform for Sri Lankan students so as to inculcate the habit of reading and appreciating poetry at a formative stage of their lives.

However, the important point here is to examine whether we could review our folk poetry tradition and use their elements including the power of recital before we embrace an entirely new tradition of poetry. If one has had the fortune of listening to Gunadasa Amarasekara reciting his own poetry, there is no doubt that we could begin reciting and listening to our own poetry first.