Local and regional literary talent demonstrated
An electrifying poetry slam was held on Sept. 20th at the eBar. Hosted in the cozy and lively room above the Bookshelf, the Guelph Poetry Slam offered local poets a place to perform creative and soulful verses of their own in a contest for 1st place and one hundred dollars. The contest also featured a special guest performance by Komi Olaf (Poetic Speed).
The rules of the contest are simple; members of the audience are randomly selected to be judges of the slam, and are given boards to score contestants 0 to 10. The poet’s total points, out of a score of 30, are added up to decide who among the first round will move to the second, and final rounds. The poets are only allowed to perform original works, are not allowed to integrate props, costumes, or musical instruments, and are given a total of three minutes to perform (with a grace period of 10 seconds before time penalties are added). Poets are judged on the quality of the poem and level of audience response; the crowd was welcomed to cheer or interrupt – in a respectful manner, of course.
It was this interactive and dynamic nature that allowed for a boisterous and exciting evening. The event started off with the “sacrificial poet” and enthusiastic host, Kelsey, who performed a “choose your own adventure” poem with the audience. Her task as the sacrificial poet was to allow for the judges to calibrate themselves for the contest to come. With that, the contest began, and 10 poets stepped up to the mike to challenge and stir the crowd with their words.
The poems spoken throughout the night offered journeys into various stories – such as domestic abuse, being OK with staying single, and losing creativity and love of poetry with the weight of university work. Through crafty alliteration and powerful rhythms, the poets spun together their works to the whistles, snaps and cries of appreciation in the crowd.
While waiting for the results of the first round, the featured artist, Komi Olaf (a.k.a. Poetic Speed), clothes covered in paint, came up to the front and began to set up a tarp and easel on the floor; his work featuring that a blend of spoken word and painting. The performance proved to be an exciting one, as Olaf recited four pieces, each exploring different topics that ranged from humorous to emotional. One particularly powerful piece recalled the story of a father given no choice in the abortion of his child. Throughout the performance, brush strokes followed the force of his voice, the complementing colours of orange and blue vividly coming to life as the picture took shape into that of a nearly faceless man wearing a hat.
After the break, the four finalists stepped up to the stage to give their last performance of the evening. At the end, first place and the one hundred dollar prize went to Fannon, with Truth Is…coming in close second.