Festival Poetry Slams

A poetry slam is an outlet for poets to express their voices—literally and literarily—by performing their work in the form of a competition, scored by an audience of judges. It’s a dynamic event where creative thinkers explore their words on the page and out loud, not to mention have a blast with the audience and with each other! 

 

The Get Lit! poetry slams turn the stage over to four groups of young people: youth ages 5-12; middle school ages 13-15; teens ages 16-18; and college students of any age. Participants are welcome to compete alone or in teams at these energetic and artistic contests. Participants who fit into more than one age category can decide which age group they'd be more comfortable competing in.

 

Here’s the cherry on top: The first-place winners of the slams will have the chance to perform at headliner events later in the week. The winners of the Youth and Middle School Poetry Slams will perform before children's author Rebecca Stead on Sunday, April 14. The winners of the Teen Poetry Slam and College Poetry Slam will open for Major Jackson & Robert Wrigley on Saturday, April 13.

The poetry slams are hosted by EWU's Writers in the Community, a program which allows graduate students to volunteer at area schools, correctional facilities, shelters, and other community organizations as creative writing teachers.

All slams will be held at the Kress Gallery, located on the 3rd floor of River Park Square. Registration begins thirty minutes before each slam. We are excited for you to share your unique style and perspective with the community!

 

Youth Poetry Slam (ages 5-12)

Wednesday, April 10 – 5:30 p.m.

Registration begins at 5 p.m.

Kress Gallery, 3rd floor, River Park Square Mall

Teen Poetry Slam (ages 16-18)

Wednesday, April 10 – 6:30 p.m.

Registration begins at 6 p.m.

Middle School Slam (ages 13-15)

Thursday, April 11 – 5 p.m.

Registration begins at 4:30 p.m.

Kress Gallery, 3rd floor, River Park Square Mall

College Poetry Slam (college students of any age)

Thursday, April 11 – 6 p.m.

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m.

Kress Gallery, 3rd floor, River Park Square Mall

 

    * Poets of all ages are welcome to work in teams or individually.                      

    * There are two rounds, so come prepared with several poems. (It is best if they are memorized.)

    * Each poem must be of the poet's own construction.

    * Each poet gets three minutes (plus a ten-second grace period) to read one poem. If the poet goes over

       time, points will be deducted from the total score.

    * The poet may NOT use props, costumes or musical instruments.

    * Of the scores (on a scale of one to ten) the poet received from the five judges, the high and low scores are

       dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0-30.

 

Registration

Poetry slams are free for participants as well as audience members, but we ask poets to bring canned food for the Writers in the Community (WITC) food drive as a registration fee.

 

For more information contact Casey Patrick at witc.ewu@gmail.com or 509.359.7437. Our poetry slams are hosted by EWU’s Writers in the Community, a program for graduate students to partner with area schools, correctional facilities, shelters, and other community organizations as volunteer creative writing teachers.