"I have to submit to much in order to pacify the touchy tribe of poets" - Horace, 14 B.C.
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I. POEMS & PERFORMANCE
Poems can be on any subject and in any style. Each poet must perform work that she has created.
No props:
Generally, poets are allowed to use their given environment and the accoutrements it offers - microphones, mic stands, the stage itself, chairs on stage, etc. As long as these accoutrements are availab le to other competitors as well. Refer to Section IV (Definitions) for further clarification on what is and is not a prop. Teams or individuals who inadvertently use a prop (for example, a timely yet unwitting grab at a necklace) can be immediately penalized one point if the emcee of the bout deems the effect of the violation to have been appreciable, but sufficiently lacking in specific intent. A formal protest need not be lodged before the emcee can penalize a poet or team in this way, and the decision of the emcee will be final. Teams or individuals whose use of props in a poem appears to be more calculating and the result of a specific intent to enhance, illustrate, underscore, or otherwise augment the words of the poem will be given a retroactive score for the poem equal to two points less than the lowest scoring poem in that bout. This deduction will be made, and applied by the emcee, and scorekeeper.
No musical instruments or pre-recorded music. No costumes.
The No Repeat Rule: A poem may be used only once during the entire competition. Period.
Performances will be timed by a time/scorekeeper.
The Three-Minute Rule: No performance should last longer than three minutes. The time begins when the poet begins speaking. After three minutes, there is a 10-second grace period (up to and including 3:10.00). Starting at 3:10.01, a penalty is automatically deducted from each poet's overall score according to the following schedule:
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Time
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Penalty
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3:10 and under
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no penalty
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3:10.01 - 3:20
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-0.5
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3:20.01 - 3:30
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-1.0
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3:30.01 - 3:40
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-1.5
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3:40.01 - 3:50
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-2.0
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and so on
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[-0.5 for every 10 seconds over 3:10 ]
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The announcement of the time penalty and its consequent deduction will be made by the emcee or scorekeeper after all the judges have reported their scores. The judges should not even be told that a poet went overtime until it is too late for them to adjust their scores.
II. TEAMS
All teams who enter will compete in Saturday's bouts, with the top four teams, as determined by their final bout scores, moving to compete in the final round on Sunday. Teams are advised to follow all entrance & registration guidelines listed on this site to insure a spot in the competition.
***Any team advancing into finals must use the EXACT SAME team members that participated in the preliminary rounds. If a team is unable to field the exact same members from the preliminary rounds in the final rounds, that team forfeits, and is eliminated from the competition. The remaining finals qualifiers will be the only teams participating in finals, and fourth place prize money will be divided equally among the top three finishers. The single exception can only be if there is UNANIMOUS agreement between all finals qualifying teams, to allow alternate(s) or replacement(s) on one or more teams. Any single finals qualifying team has veto power over allowing the use of alternate(s) or replacement(s).
Team Eligibility: Teams may be chosen either from an ongoing slam or reading series open to all poets regardless of age, sex, race, ability, appearance, or sexual orientation. Or be a team put together for the purpose of competing in this event. Should a team be the latter, they will be considered a "Straw Team" for classification purposes.
Team Pieces: Duos, trios, and quartets (otherwise known as team, group, or collaborative pieces) are allowed, even encouraged, so long as all of the primary authors perform them. Refer to Section IV (Definitions) for further clarification on primary authorship.
III. JUDGING & SCORING
Judging: All efforts shall be made to select five judges who w ill be fair. Once chosen, the judges will:
1. have a private, verbal crash course by the emcee, and scorekeeper on the do's and don'ts of poetry slam judging (where they can ask questions), and
2. hear the standardized Official Emcee Spiel, which, among other things, will apprise the audience of their own responsibilities as well as remind the judges of theirs.
Having heard, and, otherwise experienced these instructions, a judge cannot be challenged over a score.
Complaints, problems, and/or disagreements regarding the impartiality of the judges should be brought privately to the attention of the emcee or scorekeeper BEFORE the bout begins. Having heard and understood the complaint, the scorekeeper and emcee will then make a decision (also privately) that cannot be further challenged.
Scoring: The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest or "perfect" score. They will be encouraged to use one decimal place in order to preclude the likelihood of a tie. Each poem will get five scores. The high and the low scores will be dropped and the remaining three scores will be added together.
IV. DEFINITIONS
Team Piece: A poem performed by two, three, or all four members of the same team.
Primary Author(s): Thos e writers/performers whose contributions to a particular group piece are so fundamental that they have at least as much of a right as any other writer/performer of the piece to claim ownership of it at any time. Primary authors must perform their pieces.
Bout: A competition between two or more teams.
Order: The schematic that determines the order in which teams will read.
Prop: An object or article of clothing introduced into a performance for the effect of enhancing, illustrating, underscoring, or otherwise augmenting the words of the poem.
Rotation: When each team's first poet has read in a bout, the first rotation is over. There are as many rotations in a bout as there are poets on a team.
Round: A complete set of bouts in which every team that is still eligible to compete does so. Eligibility to compete in successive rounds will be contingent upon success in the earlier rounds.
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