Community is the most important part of #PoetrySlam. We come together to uplift and support each other in the pursuit of art, and everyone in the room is involved. This content was written by Lydia Gates from the #FlagstaffPoetrySlam and adapted by Annelise Wright from The Literary Rug.
Lander Poetry Slam Community Information
Poetry slam is a fun, high energy, artistic competition. It is also an environment that invites people who are often members of marginalized, minority communities that have experienced difficult things to share their authentic selves–even if those stories are hard to hear–in a way that becomes art. Art is political. Art is healing. Art can cut you to the bone.
We don’t want anyone to walk away from a poetry slam feeling hurt. It is the responsibility of the organizers and/or host, performers, judges, and audience members to create a community focused space that treats everyone with respect and dignity. However, at the end of the day, it remains a competition, and scores will be awarded. Because of this, we want to discuss the ways in which we can act to help each other and ourselves.
The Host/Organizer
Whether this is your first poetry slam or you’re a veteran, the host is there to help and support everyone: poet, judge, or audience member.
Responsibilities:
- informs the poets of the rules, including which can be broken (such as the time limit, within reason) and which are hard and fast (such as the commitment to not allow hate speech), and follows through on enforcing them if needed.
- offers a blanket content warning at the beginning of the show that encourages everyone to respectfully handle their own response to heavy topics.
- encourages the audience to cheer for every poet.
- records scores accurately.
-facilitates a Haiku-off if a tiebreaker is needed.
- handles any concerns that are brought to them about the event, up to and including uninviting members of the community who create an unsafe environment.
- share the organizational role with at least one other person to maintain objectivity and avoid burnout.
The Poet
The poet is sharing their own original work and story, which means they are being incredibly vulnerable in front of a room full of people who are often strangers.
Responsibilities:
- write your own original words and story into a piece of art to share with the community, following the guidelines and rules of the slam.
- check in with yourself and ask if you are ready to perform the content of your poem for points. It is okay to ask for a sorbet (unscored) slot or wait until you are in a healthy place with the experiences you are sharing before bringing it to the stage and potentially retraumatizing yourself.
- respect the reasonable response of the audience to your work. Not every poem hits exactly the way you’d expect, and not everyone has the knowledge you possess to understand your meaning. Even if what you share is important, it may be hard to hear or give people food for thought that cannot be digested in three minutes.
- support your fellow poets when they are on the microphone. If you are a performer, you should stay until the end of the slam whenever possible.
The Judges
The judges have the hardest job because they probably weren’t expecting to be handed it when they walked in the door. However, as we always say, there could be no show without them!
Responsibilities:
- listen to and follow the guidelines given by the host at the beginning of the slam.
- avoid bias for or against people you know personally; only judge the content and performance of any given poem.
- understand that poetry slam is a game; any booing of scores is part of that game and not a reflection on you as an individual.
- keep giving the scores you feel are in line with your own judging criteria and avoid a creep towards higher scores by the end of the night.
The Audience
A poetry slam is not an orchestra concert where you sit politely in your seat and golf clap at the end of a movement. The audience is expected to engage and interact with the poets, host, and each other within their abilities, because if you don’t love art, then we don’t think you would have walked in the door in the first place.
Responsibilities:
- cheer for every poet all the way to the microphone.
- react based on your feelings during the poem, especially snaps or soft clapping when you enjoy or really feel a specific line, or when a poet is struggling to find their place/continue speaking.
- cheer for every poet once they leave the microphone. Know that your cheering is a “thank you” to the poet for sharing their story and work, and hypes up the judges and rest of the audience to continue an energetic show.
- react to the judges' scores (not the people) to tell them how you feel.
- participate in audience callbacks from the host, such as announcing scores of “10,” jeering linear time, etc.
And finally, we want to call everyone in the community to support the people within it, even if you do not completely understand or share their experience. We are explicitly inclusive of queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people, women, people of all ages, disabled people, people of color, poor people, and unhoused people, and want to uplift their voices. If there is a way we can support you or accommodate you, we will do our best. We host our event in a space called Lander Arts Center and our event is absolutely free. The space is open to all ages and does not serve alcohol, though the LAC does allow folks to bring in snacks and alcohol of their own. The folks at the Literary Rug hope to see you soon at the Lander Poetry Slam!
