The performance poets will be competing for the third time this season, bringing a high-energy, competitive spoken word performance to the Mary D. Fisher Theater on Saturday, February 3, at 7:30 p.m. The top three poets will represent Sedona in All-Sedona. The Arizona Championship Poetry Slam will be held on March 9th in the town of Maricopa.
A poetry slam is like a high-energy three-minute one-man show that is judged by the audience. Anyone can sign up for this slam and win a $75 first prize and a $25 runner-up prize. To compete in the slam, poets must have three original poems of three minutes or less each. Props, costumes, and musical accompaniment are not permitted. The poets will be judged Olympic-style by five randomly selected spectators at the start of the competition.
Slam poetry is an art form that allows poets on the written page to share their work with theater performers, hip-hop artists, and lyricists. Poets from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff will compete with adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college student poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School. All types of poetry are welcome on stage, from street-inspired hip-hop and narrative performance poetry to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem becomes a “slam” poem if it is performed in a contest. Every poet gets to entertain and inspire the audience with her creativity for her three minutes per round.
