June 20 poetry slam at eBar
On Saturday, June 20, I was happy to find myself at the monthly Guelph Poetry Slam. The event is hosted on the third Saturday of each month at eBar. It began with open mic poetry, then, it was followed by a poetry competition where poets prepared exclusively original poems to be judged by randomly selected judges in the audience. The winner of the competition received $100 in cash.
This was my first time attending the Guelph Poetry Slam—or any poetry event for that matter—and it was certainly worth the time. Ascending up the long, steep stairs of the eBar entrance was the perfect transition from daily life into a poetic environment. It was a welcoming, safe place where people were encouraged to share ideas and express themselves. Everyone in the room was friendly, whether they were performers or just audience members. The atmosphere was filled with good vibes; the organizers even had their own chant. When someone would say “GPS” (Guelph Poetry Slam), everyone else would reply, “Where you at!?”
The event began with the open mic portion, which started the night off powerfully. With heavy social issues and political commentary rhythmically expressed, the crowd was left in silence, but that was the point. The poets were able to unify a whole room with a single collective thought. All the open mic performances were enjoyable.
Afterwards, they had the first half of the poetry competition. During competition, poets perform their poems without the accompaniment of any outside props, music, or costumes. Each performer had three minutes and ten seconds for their poem with a deduction of points if they went over the allotted time. Each of the five judges would give a score out of 10 for each performance.
The performances themselves took on a slightly different tone than that of an open mic event. The poems of the competitors, on average, were more personal and revealing than politically fueled. Due to the nature of slam poetry, all of the poems were, in some way, socially charged. Each expression had a purpose and both ways were equally engaging.
As an intermission act, they had a feature guest from Toronto. Her name was Sabrina Benaim—a poet who recently had one of her videos go viral on YouTube. Popularized by her poem “Explaining my depression to My Mother,”she is currently working on getting her poems published in an anthology. She was energetic, fun, and active on stage. Benaim was able to lead the audience along through a myriad of emotions, never missing a beat.
After the competition resumed from a short break, the next set of performances were also entertaining. In the end, the winner of this months competition was Beth Anne. She is an active member in the Guelph Spoken Word community and delivered a fluid and gripping delivery—definitely deserving of first place.
The Guelph Poetry Slam is a unique experience filled with passionate people expressing themselves. It is a place where people are accepting and able to share ideas in a safe environment. As a first time visitor, the poetry slam was something I can happily recommend people to attend at least once—it really is something refreshingly different than the usual Saturday night out.