About Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam
History of Poetry SlamClassic Cleveland Poetry Slam History
What Is a Poetry Slam?
Slam Rules
Venue/Slam Information
Cleveland's SlamMaster
Membership Information
Poetry Slam Inc. Mission
CCPS Mission
In 1984, construction worker and poet Marc Smith started a poetry reading at a Chicago jazz club, the Get Me High lounge, looking for a way to breathe life into the open mike format. The series, and its emphasis on performance, laid the groundwork for the brand of poetry that would eventually be exhibited in slam.
In 1986, Smith approached Dave Jemilo, the owner of the Green Mill (a Chicago jazz club and former haunt of Al Capone), with a plan to host a weekly poetry competition on Sunday nights. Jemilo welcomed him, and the Uptown Poetry Slam was born on July 25 of that year. Smith drew on baseball and bridge terminology for the name, and instituted the basic features of the competition, including judges chosen from the audience and cash prizes for the winner. The Green Mill evolved into a Mecca for performance poets, and the Uptown Poetry Slam continues to run every Sunday night.
The Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam has been in existence as a static entity since 1998, following the National Poetry Slam.
Before that, the Cleveland slam traveled around town in various venues. Since '98 we have settled into a home venue, first the Mardi Gras jazz club across from Cleveland State University, and, since Y2K, we are a fixture every third Sunday at the Beachland Ballroom.
We are "classic" because the format we use is that developed by Marc Smith, Slam's founder, at the Green Mill Jazz Club in Chicago. We start with an open mic, followed by a featured performer and then we SLAM!
Winners of our monthly slam earn a spot in the finals competition held in May. The top four finishers earn a spot on the team that will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam.
Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it.
A poetry slam is an event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Typically, the host or another organizer select the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 or one to 10 scale) based on the poet's content and performance.
The National Poetry Slam is the annual slam championship tournament, wherein four-person teams from all over North America and Europe gather to compete against each other for the national title. It has become part Super Bowl, part poetry summer camp, and part traveling exhibition. Staged in a different city each year, the National Poetry Slam has emerged as slam's highest-profile showcase.
Participants
The vast majority of slam series registered by Poetry Slam, Inc. are open to everyone who wishes to sign up and can get into the venue. Though everyone who signs up has the opportunity to read in the first round, the lineup for subsequent rounds is determined by the judges' scores. In other words, the judges vote for which poets they want to see more work from.
Who Organizes the Slam?
Slams are typically organized by poets interested in cultivating poetry in their communities. The vast majority work on a volunteer basis, and the price of admission typically goes toward either keeping the show running or toward special projects, like funding a slam team's trip to the annual National Poetry Slam.
How Is It Different From Open Mic?
Slam is engineered for the audience, whereas a number of open mike readings are engineered as a support network for poets. Slam is designed for the audience to react vocally and openly to all aspects of the show, including the poet's performance, the judges' scores, and the host's banter.
What Can the Audience Do?
The official MC spiel of Poetry Slam, Inc. encourages the audience to respond to the poets or the judges in any way they see fit, and most slams have adopted that guideline. Audiences can boo or cheer at the conclusion of a poem, or even during a poem.
At the Uptown Slam at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern, where poetry slam was born, the audience is instructed on an established progression of reactions if they don't like a poet, including finger snapping, foot stomping, and various verbal exhortations. If the audience expresses a certain level of dissatisfaction with the poet, the poet leaves the stage, even if he or she hasn't finished the performance. Though not every slam is as exacting in its procedure for getting a poet off the stage, the vast majority of slams give their audience the freedom and the permission to express itself.
What Kind of Poetry Is Read?
Depends on the venue, depends on the poets, depends on the slam. One of the best things about poetry slam is the range of poets it attracts. You'll find a diverse range of work within slam, including heartfelt love poetry, searing social commentary, uproarious comic routines, and bittersweet personal confessional pieces. Poets are free to do work in any style on any subject.
How to Win
Winning a poetry slam requires some measure of skill and a huge dose of luck. The judges' tastes, the audience's reactions, and the poets' performances all shape a slam event, and what wins one week might not get a poet into the second round the next week. There's no formula for winning a slam, although you become a stronger poet and performer the same way you get to Carnegie Hall — practice, practice, practice.
Though rules vary from slam to slam, the basic rules are:
- Each poem must be of the poet's own construction;
- Each poet gets three minutes (plus a ten-second grace period) to read one poem, if the poet goes over, points will be deducted from the total score;
- The poet may not use props, costumes, or musical instruments;
- Of the scores the poet received from the five judges, the high and low scores are dropped, and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0-30.
Some slams have slight variations on the rules that Poetry Slam, Inc. has developed, but most adhere to these basic guidelines. The key rule in slam is that judges are selected from the audience, and those scores are used to determine who advances.
Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam takes place the third Sunday of each month at the Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Road in Collinwood. Get directions.
Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show starting at 7:30 promptly. There will be an open mic first, which lasts about 30 minutes. Sign-up list is cut off at 10 people.
Then we have a featured poet who does a 25-40 minute set before a three-round slam. Signup for the slam is cut off at 8 competitors. The second round will be the top four, and the top two scorers come back for a final round.
The winner of this slam gets $20 and a slot at the slam finals, which take place every May.
The top four finishers at these finals (we usually have between 10-12 poets in the finals) makes the team that represents the city at the National Poetry Slam.
MICHAEL SALINGERMichael Salinger lives near Cleveland, Ohio. He has spawned two sons and been spurned by two wives. Salinger is a father, poet, performer, author, director and playwright. He has been involved in promoting creative writing through performance and education in places as interesting as Anchorage, Alaska to Land O’ Lakes, Florida.
He is the founder of Clevelandpoetics, a presenting organization that brings poets into schools, universities and museums as well as hosting visiting authors. He has been active in the National Poetry Slam, both as participant and organizer since 1991.
He is the originator of the Nova Lizard Project, a performance art troupe.
Salinger enjoys jazz and fishing.
There is no official membership for Cleveland slams. Membership to Poetry Slam Inc. is necessary for any local winner to compete at the national level. And, although membership is not required for local slams, our local organization receives a 10% kickback for local members to PSI that may be used to offset registration fees and other essential PSI business conducted between the home venue (CCPS) and PSI.
Membership levels are:
- Basic Membership $15 - This is the basic membership. It gets you a poetic
license, a certificate of Slambership and, if you are selected on a local
team, permission to attend the National Poetry Slam.
- Associate Membership $35 - Same benefits as NPS Only Membership, plus
tri-quarterly print newsletter, access to sell your product in the PSI
e-store and your name listed on the website.
- Booster Membership $50 - Same benefits as PSI Associate plus "@poetryslam.com"
e-mail address and access to Boosters Page on the website.
- Sustainer Membership $100 - All benefits of PSI Booster plus the annual
chapbook anthology.
- Patron Membership $500 - All the benefits of PSI Sustainer plus one free
all-access pass to the National Poetry Slam and name listed in tri-quarterly
newsletter.
- Benefactor Membership $1000 - All benefits of PSI Patron but with two free
all-access passes to NPS and name listed in NPS Program.
Please visit Poetry Slam Membership Drive 2002 for more information.
Former Asheville, N.C. slammaster Allan Wolf coined the phrase, "The points are not the point; the point is poetry" prior to the 1994 National Poetry Slam in Asheville. The phrase has become a mantra of sorts, reminding poets and organizers that the goal of slam is to grow poetry's audience.New York City poet Taylor Mali, a member of multiple championship teams, has modified the motto to read, "The points are not the point; the point is to get more points than anyone else," but we're pretty sure he's got his tongue planted firmly in cheek when he says that.
Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam Mission
To promote creativity through the spirit of poetry. We aim to collectively bridge the cultural and literary gaps between poets and their audience. Emerging and established poets may network through this vehicle. Thus, unifying Cleveland poets and cultural communities to foster support for local poetry venues, events, and organizations.