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Slam poetry
revealed

 

A primer on this exciting poetry subculture

 

 

‘Bind.

t all began when I was in women’s studies course last

By Ashley Whillans, Arts Editor

semester. After studying some amazing female poets, a

few friends and I made a pact together— we would go
and see a spoken word competition. Three months later and
seeing slam poetry or spoken word has become habitual,
and we now regularly attend nights at slam hot spot “Café
Deux Soliel” on Commercial Drive.

What is slam? A brief history

Slam Poetry is a fairly new style of poetry that evolved out
of the poetry scene of the 70s. A poet by the name of Marc
Smith, from Chicago, is accredited with starting the new
style of poetry at The Get Me High Lounge in the 80s, and
slam poetry has now spread all over the world. Sometimes
known as the theatre of the oppressed, it is often led by
women and poets of color and is known for its energetic
rhythms and often controversial subject matter. The poems
are all original, three-minute masterpieces, using no music
or accompaniment. Slams are judged by rowdy audience
members who get to make the final decisions on who wins,
usually through old-school plastic judging cards with the
numbers | through 10, or through the loudness of their
cheering. If you are selected to be a judge, beware, judging
can be very stressful —especially at Café Deux Soliel where
judges are often booed and heckled for giving poets low

scores!

Vancouver has slam?
Oddly enough, Vancouver has a really strong slam
scene, with its own team of poets who travel worldwide

representing Vancouver at competitions.

The lingo

For someone planning to see a show at Café Deux Soliel,
or any other venue in Vancouver, there are two things

to note that might seem a little strange to the outsider or
someone who has never been before. Here’s the low down:
If a poet takes too long to perform (they usually have a
three minute time line) everyone in the audience must
shout: “You rat bastard, you’re ruining it for everyone, but
it was well worth it.” Strange, I know, but apparently it is
tradition? One other word of advice: applaud the poet and
not the score. In other words, don’t boo the judges. Finally,
be prepared for just about anything to happen or be heard,
because often the “lingo” is new, provocative or just plain
strange and being open minded, and possibly having a few

beers first is definitely recommended.

Why bother?

It’s cheap, it’s got a great vibe, and there are so many events
scheduled it seems that you can always find time to go!
Slam only costs $5 and happens every Monday at Café
Deux Soleils on 2096 Commercial Drive.

To find out more about slam poetry, I interviewed poet
Hamza Fouad for this week’s Artist Spotlight...

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