>>General Slam Rules

>>Fellowship Year Rules

General Slam Rules

Sign-Ups
The list goes out at 7pm on the dot. Sign-ups are first come first serve. The only exception will be the final two slams of the open qualifying season where priority will be given to slammers who already have already participated in one or more qualifying slams.

The Poems

• 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 time, points will be deducted from the total score. Time starts at first contact with the audience.
• 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
• Poems used in the third round may not be repeated until semi-finals. Yes, we are keeping track.

Qualifying for Semi-finals

Points are earned by placing first (3 points), second (2 poitns) or third (1 point) in a qualifying slam. Those with the most points at the end of the qualifying season will compete in one of three nights of semi-final competitions. There are usually 5 rounds. The top scoring poets from each of these nights will go on to compete in our finals. You must compete in a minimum of three slams and earn at least one point to qualify for the semi-finals. If there are fewer than 15 poets with 3 slams and at least one point, poets with two slams and the highest number of points will advance.

Finals

The format for finals is 3 rounds with no poems repeated from semi-finals. Yes, your pockets must be that deep. The poets with the top four scores will comprise the team for louderARTS. It is at the Slam Master's discression that a 5th "alternate" will be included in the team.

Fellowship Year Rules

Sign-up

Same

Poems

All the usual rules apply. The poems must be of your own creation. No props, costumes, or musical accompanyment. Poems must be under 3 minutes and 10 seconds and the third round poem cannot be repeated again in the slam until the semi-finals. Time starts at first contact with the audience.

There will be many theme nights in fellowship years. This is to encourage new work and constant writing on the part of out slammers. It is not required, however, that you read a poem in the theme of the night. Poets may slam any poem they wish. BUT poets who do bring work related to the theme will receive 2 extra points in each round in which the relevant work is performed. We don't want to discourage poets from coming to our slam to try out new work, but we want to give a positive incentive for people to take up our writing challenges.

3-2-1 and 1-2-3 slams have specific time limits that must be observed by all competators. There are no extra points given for observing the time limits and point will be deducted for going over time.

Semi-Finals

To qualify for the semi-finals, one must have participated in at least three preliminary slams, at least ONE of which must have been a theme slam, which is to say, if you've done five slams and they're all only traditional/regulation slams, then you will NOT have qualified.  The semi-finals will comprise four rounds, one of which will be a “form” round and one of which will be a one or two minute round.  As in the past, points are gained towards the semi-finals by making it into the third round in preliminary bouts and coming in 1st (3 points), 2nd (2 points) or 3rd (1 point).

Finals

Same. Top scorers from the three semi-finals will compete in 5 rounds. Top four receive the fellowship and will be our "team" for the year.

Slammaster: Emily Kagan
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Artistic Director: Roger Bonair-Agard
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