Index
What is slam?
Slamming in Schools
Workshop leaders cv's
Workshop format
What we provide/you provide
Workshop details
Contact Details
Slamming is competitive poetry; where poets perform their work
and the audience decide by their applause which poets are best.
A Brief History
Slamming began in America. It was invented by construction worker/poet Mark Smith in
August 1986. The first slam was held at The Green Mill Lounge, Chicago. He invited the
audience to play a
major role by asking them to judge the poets, using score cards. Slamming in the Sates has
now reached epidemic proportions, the 1998 U.S. Nationals saw 29 states taking part.
Performing in front
of a sell-out final to an audience of over 1,000 people, competing for $1,000 prize.
Mark Smith says: "The slam is about poets performing professionally to an audience
they care about allowing that audience to enjoy themselves, while presenting them with the
most
profound and heartfelt poetry the poets can muster."
• Slamming is exhilerating for the poets , who know that they must be impressive and
engaging, performing poems that are relevant to people today (some so up to the minute
that the ink’s not dry!)
• It is exciting for the audience, because they actually decide who rides and who
slides.
We initiated slamming in Bristol in December 1994 - it has proved to be extremely popular. The slams we host draw very large audiences who are engaging with and enjoying poetry (many for the first time).
Poetry is communication art, where every individual can express their own ideas. We believe that this precious resource is all too often overlooked.
The techniques developed by performing poetry are valuable communication skills, which are useful in all areas of life and build confidence and self esteem.
We initiated slamming in Bristol in December 1994 - it has proved to be extremely popular. The slams we host draw very large audiences who are engaging with and enjoying poetry (many for the first time).
Slamming encourages poets with diverse styles to present their work in a nurturing environment to a receptive audience.
The idea of our workshops is to have a lot of fun, whilst learning.
Workshop leaders cv's
The workshop leaders are Claire Williamson (MA) and Glenn Carmichael (BA Hons). Claire Williamson has worked extensively with poetry in education, as well as leading adult workshops at many venues in the South West, including Glastonbury Festival and The University of the West of England. Glenn is a published poet and professional performer whose buoyant personality and enthusiasm always inspires children to make the most of their potential. In addition to his work in schools, he continues to run his very successful Creative Writing workshops at the Bristol Old Vic.
The workshops outlined below are intended for young people between the ages of 5-18. The workshops will take the following format:
a) We demonstrate the art of performance poetry.
b) A writing workshop, guiding the participants through the writing process -
there are many different ways of stimulating creative activity, eg. music, visual stimulation, subject selection.
c) After the poems have been written, we will help the poets with ideas of how they will be presenting their work.
The workshops will culminate in a slam.
Slams will take the following format:
The participants names will be picked from a hat, to determine a running order. Each poet will read their poem and the audience’s applause (registered on our clapometer) will determine the favourites. Every poet will receive a small prize for participating and the two favourites will receive a personalised certificate.
We will host the slam and ensure that everyone (participants and audience) enjoys themselves.
What we provide/you provide
We will provide:
You will provide:
All you need to provide is writing paper and pens, we will do the rest!
We can also tailor-make workshops to suit.
Bristol Poetry Slam, 130c
Cheltenham Place, Montpelier, BS5 6LF
email: glenncarmichael@netscape.com