For SBCEO’s first annual Poetry Slam, we are proud to partner with Guelph Spoken Word, a nonprofit organization out of Canada.  SBCEO will provide multiple workshop sessions led by Guelph Artists, in order to prepare students for the Poetry Slam, with the mission of creating an open, diverse community space that will foster spoken word artists within Santa Barbara County, and which will provide quality arts & culture experiences for audiences.

The Poetry Slam competition is intended for all 9-12th graders in Santa Barbara County attending private or public school. The workshops are open for all teachers and students in grades 7-12 in Santa Barbara County.

The concept of slam poetry seems to have originated in the 1980’s in Chicago, Illinois, when a local poet and construction worker, Marc Kelly Smith, feeling that poetry readings and poetry in general had lost their true passion, had an idea to bring poetry back to the people.

The first thing that needs to be understood is the difference between Slam Poetry and the Spoken Word.  Slam poetry or a Poetry Slam, is a competition arts event in the form of performance poetry, that combines the elements of performance, writing, competition and audience participation.  It is often performed in front of a live audience and a panel of judges.  The performances at a poetry slam are judged as much on enthusiasm and style as content.  Poets may compete as individuals or in teams.  The term slam comes from how the audience has the power to praise or sometimes destroy a poem from the high-energy performance style of the poets.

Spoken Word Poetry (also known as performance poetry), is simple poetry that is written to be performed.  All slam poetry is spoken word, but not all spoken word poetry is written to be performed at slams.  Spoken word poetry does contain the artist’s thoughts and emotions, and is written in a way that will provoke a reaction from the audience.