POWER POETS MAKE A BIG NOISE WITH SLAM

Let's just get this straight. You can't find it in your textbook. It's not a "reading."

It's slam.

It's a tradition rooted in the greater movement to reclaim poetry as a dialogue between artist and audience. In the mid '80s, poet Marc Smith spearheaded the evolution of slam poetry by encouraging friends to battle it out Sunday nights at Chicago's Green Mill. After the evening's feature and open mike cleared the stage, judges were selected from the audience and given scorecards, and "rival" poets went head to head, poem by poem, for the approval of the bar. What was great on paper wasn't always a crowd-pleaser. To win, a poem had to have more than literary merit--it had to wrench the words from their passivity on the page.

The Green Mill slams gained momentum as they gathered audiences who were isolated by the presentation of poetry within self-serving, academic literary circles. Chicago's success was an inspiration for performance artists in other cities who had been moving in the same direction, opposing the ruling power of published poets and poetry critics. As slam culture spread, most notably to San Francisco, New York, and Boston, it wasn't long before the first National Poetry Slam in 1990.

One of the most prominent venues for slam in the U.S. (now that it is an international phenomenon) is the Nuyorican Poets' Cafe in New York City. Here, video and film producer Paul Devlin experienced slam for the first time. Electrified by the suspense and excitement slam brought to poetry performance, he determined to share the experience with greater audiences. Devlin, an English Language and Literature graduate from the University of Michigan, characterizes slam as a force of resistance against the often "tedious and self-indulgent" tradition of academic or published poetry. As he explains, a lot of people don't realize there's an alternative--"There's a lot of prejudice against what poetry is, and slam overturns that."

In 1995, Devlin produced Slammin', a half-hour television pilot that received two New York Emmy nominations. In 1998, he released his first full-length feature, SlamNation, a documentary that followed the New York novice team to the 1996 nationals in Portland. Part of the challenge was to find a narrative to streamline 90 minutes of footage while preserving the integrity of the individual performances and the excitement of live slam. Another challenge was marketing the film to general audiences who had preconceived notions of poetry performance. Whether it was his journalistic experience or the power of slam itself. SlamNation converted enough skeptical viewers (Devlin cries, "Ninety minutes of poetry? I'd rather shoot myself!") to jump from the film festival circuit to national release. Devlin's film was one of two released about slam in 1998. He reports that the 1999 National Poetry Slam in Chicago this August expects "essentially double the audience that was in Austin last year."

Every city has its own style of slam, and Boston has been recognized for the political flavor of its slam poets. "Poetry activism," an element not originally part of the Chicago aesthetic, has become an important aspect of slam culture. Boston is also recognized for its strong competitive history. Wednesday May 5 and May 12 are excellent opportunities to check out Boston's contenders for the 1999 nationals as local slam finals are held to select the Boston team. Where? Right up Mass Ave. at Central Square's Cantab Lounge.

Remember, slam is about pushing beyond the written word, so don't trust this article to bring you up to speed on the sport and suspense of performance poetry. Check out SlamNation coming out on video this summer or fall. Even better, get out to the Cantab, and experience SLAM!