7pm Tuesday: A team poetry slam with: Albuquerque (NM), Richmond (VA), Jersey City (NJ), and Portland – PV (ME).
9pm Tuesday: A team poetry slam with: Bridgeport (CT), Arlington (TX), Spokane (WA), and Boise (ID).
11pm Tuesday: Top poetry slam coaches and emcees slam off against each other for the title of top SlamMaster in the country!
National Poetry Slam: Prelims
At the opening rounds of the National Poetry Slam, the largest poetry slam in the world, slam teams will take the stage four at a time to battle it out for a chance to advance to semi-finals. Each weeknight represents a double-header poetry slam extravaganza, featuring teams from all over the U.S. and Canada.
Poets will perform individually or in groups, using all the skills of storytelling, hip-hop, stand-up-comedy, lyricism, political diatribe, playwriting, and cold hard poetry. The whole premise of slam is to bring poetry to the masses, so judges are selected randomly from the audience… Which means that even if you aren’t a poet, you could be part of the show!
National Poetry Slam: SlamMaster Slam
The National Poetry Slam is the largest team poetry slam in the world and the definitive showcase for competitive performance poetry. The week-long festival also serves as a showcase and workshop meet-up, all celebrating the dynamic oral tradition slam has fostered. The SlamMaster Slam is an opportunity for some of the most revered slammers– that’s the retired ones– to take the stage and show the young upstarts what performance poetry should be.
Remember that silent poet at the back of the room during bouts, high-fiving poets who left the stage and crunching the numbers faster than the scorekeepers? That’s the most experienced member of the team, the venue’s SlamMaster (who is frequently their coach, too). Here’s a chance to yank some of those poets out of retirement and see the competitive fire that brought them to slam in the first place. Open to SlamMasters not competing at NPS. Hosted by Oakland’s Nazelah Jamison and Worcester’s Bill Macmillan.
Admission to all the shows is complementary with a Festival Pass or $5 for single tickets. For more information about the week-long competition and festival, please visit www.nationalpoetryslam.com.
Notable dates