I attended my first ever Toronto Poetry Slam last night. I went because one of my friends, Emily, was going to compete, and I thought it might be interesting enough.
I’m someone who goes to lots of literary-type events: book launches, readings, and the odd spoken word performance. But what happened last night felt so different from anything I’ve experienced before.
The night started with a call-and-response anthem (a “slamthem”) and then the 10 poets, diverse in their styles and identities, performed in 3 minute installments (go over the time limit and lose points!) , and then were cheered and scored. Those with the highest scores went on in the competition. The crowd snapped their fingers when something resonated with them, or clapped to the beat, caught up with the rhythm of a poet’s voice. Judges were jeered if thought to be low scorers.
This just doesn’t happen at the staid literary readings I’ve been to (polite applause and articulate Q &As are about it). Later a spoken word/folk group, The Fugitives, performed, bringing people to their feet. I left feeling very inspired.