2018 Fall / Winter Season

Art of Slam Conference Information: Click Here.
Buy tickets for Art of Slam conference or evening Anniversary Slam 9/29. Tickets!
Teen Slam information here. http://witsendpoetry.blogspot.com/p/teens.html

Poetry Events Every Sunday at Coffee Underground at 7:30pm in Downtown Greenville. [1 E. Coffee Street] Managed by Wits End Poetry.

First Sundays: Say What Extended Open Mic Hosted by Moody Black. Second and Third Sundays: Featuring the hottest poets from across the region plus open mic. Last Sundays: Say What Poetry Slam! Sign-up starts at 7:00pm. All poetry styles welcome! No shows on major holidays as posted.



September 23. Len Lawson. Len Lawson is the author of forthcoming full-length poetry collection Chime (Get Fresh Books, 2019), the chapbook Before the Night Wakes You (Finishing Line Press, 2017) and co-editor of Hand in Hand: Poets Respond to Race (Muddy Ford Press, 2017). He won the 2016 Jasper Magazine Artist of the Year Award in Literary Arts and was named among "Ten South Carolina Poets to Watch" by Richland County Library in 2018. Len is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. He received a fellowship from Callaloo and a residency from Vermont Studio Center. He currently teaches English at the University of South Carolina Sumter. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

Saturday 29th. THE ART OF SLAM CONFERENCE! #WORKSHOPS. 11 am - Evening

September 30. Art of Slam showcase featuring participants in the Art of Slam conference! Plus Open Mic.

October 7th, 2018 Extended Open Mic Hosted by Moody Black! The night will also feature poetry games, fun, and a full night of open mic slots for local poets on a first come, first serve basis. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

October 14th 2018 MILK The night will also feature a short open mic. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

October 21st 2018. The night will also feature a short open mic. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

October 28th 2018 $100 Poetry Slam. Hosted by Moody Black. A poetry slam is a performance poetry competition judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience. Up to twelve local poets may sign up for the three-round poetry slam. After the first round, only eight poets will perform in the second round, and only four poets will perform in the final round. Each poet will perform one original poem without musical accompaniment, props, or costumes within the three-minute time limit. They will be judged on a scale of zero to ten with the lowest and the highest scores dropped to give the highest possible score of thirty. The winner of the slam will receive $100 prize. All poetry styles welcome. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $10.

November 4th. Extended Open Mic Hosted by Moody Black! The night will also feature poetry games, fun, and a full night of open mic slots for local poets on a first come, first serve basis. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

November 11th. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

November 18th Nate Mask and Ryan J - veterans of the Atlanta poetry scene, veterans of Java Monkey slam teams, founders of HomeGrown Poetry, and recently finishing a California and midwest tour. And as it turns out - people do like them! The night will also feature a short open mic. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

November 25th. $100 Poetry Slam. Hosted by Moody Black. A poetry slam is a performance poetry competition judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience. Up to twelve local poets may sign up for the three-round poetry slam. After the first round, only eight poets will perform in the second round, and only four poets will perform in the final round. Each poet will perform one original poem without musical accompaniment, props, or costumes within the three-minute time limit. They will be judged on a scale of zero to ten with the lowest and the highest scores dropped to give the highest possible score of thirty. The winner of the slam will receive $100 prize. All poetry styles welcome. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $10.

December 2nd. Extended Open Mic Hosted by Moody Black! The night will also feature poetry games, fun, and a full night of open mic slots for local poets on a first come, first serve basis. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

December 9th Sa Jules of Augusta, GA. Fertilized from the rich soil of Wisconsin and transplanted to savory fields of Georgia Sa Jules has been writing and assassinating the mic as a spoken word artist since the age of eleven. She spits pure uncensored truth with no chasers. The night will also feature a short open mic. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

December 16th. Jonathan Brown Aggressively Vulnerable Tour out of New Orleans. Hip Hop infused spoken word. Jonathan Brown holds a BA in Communication from the College of Charleston, an MA in Writing and Consciousness from New College of California, and an MFA from the University of New Orleans. On the stage, Jonathan is a rhinoceros, trouncing around; on the page, he’s an alchemist, transmuting vulnerability into a source of peace. He’s a prism splitting light in all directions.The night will also feature a short open mic. All poetry styles welcome. Coffee Underground. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $7.

December 23rd Merry Christmas. No Show!

December 30th. Not Quite New Year Poetry Slam. Hosted by Moody Black. A poetry slam is a performance poetry competition judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience. Up to twelve local poets may sign up for the three-round poetry slam. After the first round, only eight poets will perform in the second round, and only four poets will perform in the final round. Each poet will perform one original poem without musical accompaniment, props, or costumes within the three-minute time limit. They will be judged on a scale of zero to ten with the lowest and the highest scores dropped to give the highest possible score of thirty. The winner of the slam will receive $100 prize. All poetry styles welcome. 1 East Coffee Street. Greenville, SC 29601. 7:30pm. $10.

King of the South

The annual King of the South Poetry Slam
Sunday May 27th, 2018. King of the South Slam. 

AUDIENCES  Buy your advance, reserved seating on Eventbrite: 

The historical, original all male poetry slam held in Greenville South Carolina! Don't miss the top male poets of the south east region showcase their power and spoken word skills! Located at Coffee Underground (downtown) 1 East Coffee St Greenville SC 

HOST  Johnny C Weaver

Bout Manager Kimberly J Simms

$10 General Admission

REGISTRATION FOR POETS IS 

One Spot Open. 

REGISTERED POETS: Order will be randomly drawn on the night.
1. Darelle D. Dove | Greenville 
2. Jahbu Ourinde | Charlotte
3. Breeze | Richmond
4. Nate Hames | Spartanburg
5. Su Zhair | Atlanta
6. Backpack Jeff | Washington DC
7. Eye-Am-Bic |  Charlotte
8. Corey Nesbitt | Greenville
9. Jay Desean | Greenville
10. Khali Ali | Charleston
11. Black Phoenix | Spartanburg
12. Curtis Levon 

Tournament rules:
1. Prize Money: 1st $300  2nd $100
Top 3 poets will have the title, "King of the South Finalist"
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 12 poets. No Waiting List. Cancellations must occur by 5/25 in order to receive a refund.
4. No Tie for First. In the event that there is a tie for first after the third round, then each poet tied for first will perform one additional poem. A coin flip will determine order. Judges will vote for the winner by writing down the name of the poet who they believe should win.
5. Three Round Poetry Slam. 12-6-3. First two rounds are cumulative. 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: (in the 3 minute rotation) up to and including 3:10:00). Starting at one hundredth of a second over the grace period, a penalty is automatically deducted  of .10 from the poet’s overall score. 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.
8. General PSI Rules (www.poetryslam.com)

PSI Rules

1) Poems can be on any subject and in any style.

2) Each poet must perform work that they have created.

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.

April 29 2018 Queen of the South Slam
hosted by founder Kimberly Simms
$400 in Prizes

To finish National Poetry Month with a magical bang - don't miss this exciting high-energy poetry slam which will spotlight emerging female poetic artists from across four states. This event, founded in Greenville by Kimberly Simms, inspired WOWps.

Poets should arrive by 7:00 pm for the draw.

Poets registered (order will be drawn on night of  event).
Tameika Smith Robinson
Shay Black
Iam Picturesque
Mia S. Willis
Lyric
Elaine Hill
Nigeria Avanti
Ashlee Haze
Bria Davis

The Bride of Christ

Lady V

Jenice Pleasant
Solace Soleil
Adrienne White

To sign up please register here via PayPal:

EARLY BIRD Registration is ONLY $10. Goes up to $15 on 4/24.
Please pay via Paypal and be sure to include your poet name as a note.
Registration is now closed.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

If you are interested in helping with this event, we need timers, scorekeepers, and ushers. Please sign-up online at OR email witsendpoetrysc@gmail.com.

http://witsendpoetry.blogspot.com/p/volunteer.html

Queen of the South Rules

The first two rounds of the competition are cumulative with the first round featuring 12 poets then cutting down to 8. The final round will feature only the top 4 poets and will be clean slate. Standard tournament slam rules apply. Prop, plagiarism, or costume violations will result in [-2 ] points from the score for that round. There will not be a tie breaker round, rather prize money will be split in the event of a tie. If there is a tie in early rounds, additional poets will advance. Poets should bring at least 3 poems. Poems do not need to be memorized but it will help your score. Learn more about slam at http://www.witsendpoetry.com/whatisslam.html.

The historical annual all women poetry slam held in Greenville South Carolina celebrates 10 years of providing a platform where the women in the south eastern region showcase their power and spoken word skills! This event was conceived in 2005 and led to the formation of the Women of the World Slam.

Questions email witsendpoetrysc@gmail.com.

First Prize $250
Second Prize $100
Third Prize $50

In the event of a tie, each 2 champions will each receive $175.
And the 2nd place will receive $50.

Standard tournament rules:
1. No costumes. You may not remove clothing items during your performance.
2. No props. You can not refer to an object during your performance. (mention earrings and pull on your earrings).
3. No musical accompaniment. You can sing but you can not use a musical instrument.
4. 3:00 minute time limit. Points deducted for going over.
Tips for slamming: http://www.witsendpoetry.com/whatisslam.html

Volunteer!

Wits End Poetry needs volunteers to help run its events! We need ticket takers, ushers, flier distributors, time keepers, bout managers, score keepers and more! We have lots of exciting projects coming up - so get involved!

Sign Up to Volunteer with Wits End Poetry

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