A ‘slam’ competition at BPA opens national Poetry Month.
If Edmund Spenser showed up to perform at a poetry slam, he’d probably be booed offstage. Take “The Faerie Queen”:
“Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far vnfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds…”
No one would dispute the mastery of Spenser’s Elizabethan court epic, nor of the poet himself. But Kathleen Thorne, Poetry Month coordinator for the Bainbridge Arts and Humanities Council, doesn’t think complex allegory will ever fly at a slam.
“If the judges are going ‘huh?’ afterward,” she said, “it’s not a good choice.”
As Thorne prepares to stage the slam, the BPA Word Series event that will launch the Bainbridge celebration of National Poetry Month, she hopes to move the island’s literary scene a little bit closer to the edge.
Two teams of established Bainbridge poets have formed along the gender line. On a small stage in the BPA lobby, they’ll each get a chance to dramatize their work.
As is customary in poetry slams, a panel of randomly selected audience judges, who have perhaps availed themselves of the no-host bar, will score each poet’s performance. Prizes will go to the highest-scoring poet and team.
“The thing I keep telling the poets, and this is important, is that they might not be reading their very best works,” Thorne said. “They need things that are funny, edgy, or come at you from an offbeat angle. Those are the kinds of poems that work best at poetry slams.”
Slam has roots in 1950s Beat poetry, which pitted iconoclasts like Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti against the literary establishment. They took their raw, often obscene verse straight to the people in smoky city bars and cafes.
Films like 1998’s “Slam” and the HBO series “Def Poetry Jam” introduced the mainstream to contemporary competitive slam, whose hallmarks are charged and often political subject matter, diverse cultural perspectives and a rhythmic, sometimes hip-hop delivery style.
Slam has everything to do with yanking audience members into the drama of the message, and not so much to do with iambic pentameter. For this reason, Thorne says that slam poetry “is kind of a hard sell” among Bainbridge poets, most of whom are coming at the format for the first time.
“It’s not their normal milieu,” she said. “They’re taking a risk.”
Poet and women’s slam team member Jennifer Hager falls into that camp, but finds the prospect “thrilling.” She looks forward to dramatizing her work in a way that’s humorous and bawdy, with a touch of desperation thrown in.
“Much poetry is more introspective, reflective, that you may read at a slow pace, kind of quietly, letting the pieces fall,” Hager said.
By contrast, she said, for a poem to succeed in a slam, it must directly engage the listener in colloquial language that offers a strong element of drama. Presentation is as important as content.
“I would say this is like preparing for a part in a play,” Hager said, “working on staging, movement, timing, breath control, working on my sense of presence.”
Hager and teammate Marit Saltrones have practiced for the slam together, which Thorne hoped would be the case among teammates. The gendered nature of the competition wasn’t so much about women and men facing off, she said, but about attracting participants and providing a supportive environment in which to explore a new format.
Thorne would like Tuesday’s slam competition to draw a younger crowd but recognizes that island demographics, not to mention spring break, could work against that.
Even so, she hopes a curious public will come out for the spectacle. At the very least, she expects many Bainbridge poets – “and that’s a lot of people” – to turn out in support of their fellow and sister bards.
Hager agrees.
“I feel anyone who participates in this kind of thing probably reaps a reward from having the guts to stand up and take a chance,” she said.
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Slam dunks
Bainbridge celebrates national poetry month with these events:
• BPA Word Series poetry slam: 7:30 p.m. April 3 in the BPA lobby. No-host beer and wine bar. Cost: $5 at the door. Information: www.artshum.org.
• Poetry exhibit: An artistic exhibition of work by local poets in the BPA lobby. Opens April 3. Viewings Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and one hour prior to BPA performances. Information: www.artshum.org.
• Poetry Corners exhibit: Approximately 30 poster-size childhood-themed poems by Bainbridge and North Kitsap poets will be on display during April in windows and venues throughout Winslow. Information: www.artshum.org.
• 23rd annual San Carlos poetry reading: Poetry legend Bob McAllister will emcee this year’s event from 1 to 4 p.m. April 15 at San Carlos Restaurant. Cost: Free. To read, call BIAHC at 842-7901 or email admin@artshum.org.
• Third Thursday Poet’s Night Out: Readings by local poets, round robin style. The reading starts at 7:30 p.m. April 19 at Pegasus Coffee House. To participate, arrive at 7:15 and put your name on the list. Cost: Free. Information: 842-6725.
• Last Poem on Earth: A Jazz Requiem. This spoken-word and choral performance piece features a jazz orchestra, the Bainbridge Chorale, vocal groups Side by Side and Sound Wave and a children’s choir. Performances are April 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and April 22 at 3 p.m. at BPA. Cost: $15/$10. Contact: BPA at 842-8569 or www.theplayhouse.org.
• Billy Collins reading: As a fundraiser for BIAHC, the poet will read at 3 p.m. April 29 at the Bainbridge High School Gym. Cost: 15 adult/$50 family/free for students and seniors. Tickets: Call BIAHC at 842-7901, visit www.artshum.org or stop by Eagle Harbor Book Co.
• “Exhibition”: Starting in April, watch for the new issue of “Exhibition,” BIAHC’s journal of visual and literary arts. Available at Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Arts & Crafts and other local venues.
