What is slam poetry?....

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As the slam
movement has
expanded its history and identity has sometimes been distorted by
people (especially in the electronic media)
like to pigeon hole complex concepts into bite size chunks of sound and
light they can easily pack into 30 seconds of on-air broadcast or
cocktail conversation. That can't be done with the slam. It's too big.
It's multi-headed. It refracts
a very broad spectrum of human activity and exprsssion.

So, the question what is slam poetry demands several definitions for
slam poetry. Here a few of them in order of importance:....

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a) Slam poetry (which is synonymous
to performance poetry) is the re-marriage of the art of performing with the art
of writing poetry. ....

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That doesn't raise many
eyebrows these days but in 1984 Chicago (and the rest of the USA and most of
western Europe) to perform poetry was a radical departure from how poetry was
"supposed" to be presented orally. The establishment circles of proper poets (the
famous nobodies we called them) scorned and dismissed those of us who dare perform
poetry calling us clowns, hack actors, and unfunny comedians. "A true poet
allows the words to speak for themselves" was their mantra. "Hmmm?"
I wondered, "How do words speak for themselves."....

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b) A poetry slam is any interactive,
highly entertaining performance poetry show/event modeled after the original Uptown
Poetry Slam started (and still running) at the Green Mill Jazz Club in Chicago
twenty-two years ago. There is a legacy of hundreds of (maybe a couple thousand)
spin-off shows that have inspired other shows that have inspired still more. But the
Green Mill slam is the one that began them all and has remained the most authentic
model of slam.....

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c) A poetry slam is an
interactive performance poetry competition. ....

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You can go to the Poetry Slam Inc
website [poetryslam.com] and read their narrow definition of slam competitions and all the
associated rules and qualification paperwork for yourself. Most slams have a
competition incorporated into their events, but to say that slam poetry is
simply competitive poetry is a distortion. Any event that showcases performance
poetry and encourages audience interaction is a slam
whether it includes a competition or not. The competition format (a splendid theatrical
device) has merely been the easiest for journalists to report on and for the less creative
programmers to duplicate.  ....

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d) Poetry slam is a worldwide social/literary
performing arts movement, a network (sometimes called a family) of performance
poets, organizers, patrons, and audience members who love and passionately
support performance poetry.

It's made up of every kind of person you can imagine -- scientists,
grandpas, punkers, grade school kids, ex-cons, teachers, plumbers, cops, professors,
homeless folks -- all races, all nationalities, all ages -- men, women, boys,
girls. It celebrates all forms and styles of poetry: haiku, free verse, rants,
sonnets, ballads, limericks, hip hop, villanelles, narratives, and even
non-poems if they have something to say. It's the big house of poetry where all
are welcomed -- where everything gets said that needs to be said.