A poetry slam is a performance poetry competition judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience.
Please message Kimberly, Shay, or Wits End Poetry to sign up on FB/Insta @witsendpoetry. Poets must be in good standing with Wits End Poetry in order to compete.
Coffee Underground, 1 E Coffee St., Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30 pm. $10.
Limited to 10 poets. No waitlist. Poets scroll to the bottom of this page to see all the rules.
REGISTER NOW! VIA CASHAPP ($WITSENDPOETRY) OR PAYPAL. REGISTRATION IS OPEN. Cashapp $10 to $witsendpoetry with the words POET. "poet name" to register or register ABOVE with Paypal. $10 General Admission. Buying an audience ticket does not register you for the slam.
REGISTERED POETS: Order will be randomly drawn on event night.
Tournament rules:
1. Prize Money: $100
2. Bout draw is at 7:15pm
If you are late for the draw, you will automatically be the 1st poet in the slam!
3. We are only taking 8-10 poets. No Waiting List. No refunds.
4. No Tie for First. In the event that there is a tie for first after the third round, Judges will vote for the winner by writing down the name of the poet who they believe should win.
5. Two Round Poetry Slam. 8-4. Final round is clean slate. Order will be high to low for second round. Final round will be redrawn for order.
6. The Time Limit. 3:00 minute time limit. A poet is certainly allowed several full seconds to adjust the microphone and get settled, but as soon as s/he makes a connection with the audience (“Hey look, she’s been standing there for 10 seconds and hasn’t even moved”), the timekeeper can start the clock.
Tournament rules:
1. Prize Money: $100
2. Bout draw is at 7:15pm
If you are late for the draw, you will automatically be the 1st poet in the slam!
3. We are only taking 8-10 poets. No Waiting List. No refunds.
4. No Tie for First. In the event that there is a tie for first after the third round, Judges will vote for the winner by writing down the name of the poet who they believe should win.
5. Two Round Poetry Slam. 8-4. Final round is clean slate. Order will be high to low for second round. Final round will be redrawn for order.
6. The Time Limit. 3:00 minute time limit. A poet is certainly allowed several full seconds to adjust the microphone and get settled, but as soon as s/he makes a connection with the audience (“Hey look, she’s been standing there for 10 seconds and hasn’t even moved”), the timekeeper can start the clock.
After 3:00 minutes, there is a 10-second grace period (for example: up to and including 3:10:00). Starting at one-hundredth of a second over the grace period, 3:10:01 a penalty is automatically deducted of .5 from the poet’s overall score. An additional .5 is deducted for each additional 10 seconds. THE MC/BM MAY STOP THE POET AT 4:00 MINUTES.
7. Influencing the Crowd Before the Bout Begins. Poets are allowed to talk casually with anyone in the crowd before the bout begins (except the judges, if they have already been chosen). They are not, however, allowed to give anything to the audience or have anyone do this for them. See full PSI
tournament rules for more information.
7. Influencing the Crowd Before the Bout Begins. Poets are allowed to talk casually with anyone in the crowd before the bout begins (except the judges, if they have already been chosen). They are not, however, allowed to give anything to the audience or have anyone do this for them. See full PSI
tournament rules for more information.
8. Poet must be in good standing with Wits End Poetry. No owed fees or breach of contract.
PSI Rules
PSI Rules
1) Poems can be on any subject and in any style.
2) Each poet must perform work that they have created. Sampling should be no longer than 30 seconds of the overall poem.
3) No props. Generally, poets are allowed to use their given
environment and the accouterments it offers microphones, mic stands,
the stage itself, chairs on stage, a table or bar top, the aisle as long as
these accouterments are available to other competitors as well. The rule
concerning props is not intended to squelch the spontaneity,
unpredictability, or on-the-fly choreography that people love about the
slam; its intent is to keep the focus on the words rather than objects.
Refer to Section V (Definitions) for further clarification on what is and is
not a prop. Poets who inadvertently use a prop (for example, a timely yet
unwitting grab at a necklace) can be immediately penalized two points if
the MC of the bout deems the effect of the violation to have been
appreciable, but sufficiently lacking in specific intent. A formal protest
need not be lodged before the MC can penalize a poet in this way,
however, the decision of the MC can be appealed after the bout.
Individuals whose use of props in a poem appears to be more calculated
and the result of a specific intent to enhance, illustrate, underscore, or
otherwise augment the words of the poem will be given a retroactive
score for the poem equal to two points less than the lowest scoring
poem in that bout. This deduction, which can only be applied after a
formal protest has been lodged against the offending poet, will not be
made by the MC, but by the Protest Committee.
4) No musical instruments or pre-recorded music, a poem which
violates this rule will be assessed a score of zero.
5) No costumes. (Do not put on or take off clothing during bout)The Protest Committee may apply a two-point deduction for violation of the costume rule. For example don't wear a superman shirt and do a poem about superman. Don't wear a witch hat and do a poem about witches. So do not wear clothing that highlights or underscores your poem content. Wear your normal street clothes
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