MVPC Slam Rules
The Mid Valley Poetry Collective has decided to adopt (and adapt) the American Library Association‘s rules as our operating rules as well.
- Orginal Work only: Each Slam will hold three rounds of poetry. Every poem performed for an MVPC Slam must be the original work of the performer*. Quoting existing work is allowed, but anything that may border on infringement of copyright will result in disqualification. As a participant, you may win money, and that’s a gamechanger for copy legality! Plus, we want to hear YOUR words, YOUR voice, and YOUR message!
- Performance is important: This is less a rule than it is a natural consequence. Practice, practice, practice! Memorize if you can (reading from paper or a device is allowed). Love your poetry enough to give it life! If you are in any way nervous or unsure, please let us know and we will help you find your comfort on a stage, behind a mic, blanketed in your poetry!
- Time: Each poet is allowed 3 minutes to perform each poem. After a 10 second grace period, the poet loses .5 points for every 10 seconds over (example: after 40 seconds, they lose a whole point). Warnings will be given at the 4 minute mark. In the event of a full roster, MVPC may adopt a 4.5 minute mic cutoff rule.
- The Poem is the point: Props, instruments, costumes, prerecorded sounds/video, or any other item that might detract from the poem are not allowed. Slam poetry is about the poem and the poet. Use your body (tap your chest to illustrate a heartbeat), but not your clothes (if your poem is about your sneaks and you’re showing off your sneaks, those aren’t sneaks, they’re a prop and you’ll be disqualified). We will most certainly have space for other types of performances in other shows! We got you! But for a Slam, just bring your poem to the mic!
- Order: The order of the poets will be selected randomly immediately prior to the start of each round. So if you’re starting in round one, or moving on to either of the other two rounds, please make sure you are near the stage at least ten minutes before the round. Emcee will call you to the stage. You have to be there for order selection.
- Don’t be a D: It’s 2024 and we feel sad that we still have to say this, but please keep hate out of our space. No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and so on. You know the drill. Bring your outrage, your angry plea for justice, but please, leave your hate out of our space. We use poetry to heal wounds, not create new ones.
- Judges and judging: Five new judges will be selected from the audience for each round. The ideal judge will be someone who has never been to a slam, never really thought much about poetry, and maybe blushes when asked if they have ever written poetry. They will be asked to rank (from 1-10) what they thought of the poem they just witnessed. The highest and lowest of the 5 scores will be recorded on the score sheet, but dropped from the tally. Scores will be cumulative for the round and we will retain records of scores for overall accumulation of points for each poet.
- Winning: The top 5 poets from round 1 will move on to round 2 and the the top 2 or 3 will move on to the final round. The poet with the most points from all three rounds will be the winner. So, it is possible to win the Slam but lose round 3. Prizes for the event may vary. The winner will also be given the opportunity to Emcee the next (or future) MVPC Poetry Slam event.
*Pinch-hitting exceptions can be made in cases where the author of the poem for whatever reason (disability, anxiety, etc.) may have a stand-in performer/reader. However, the stand-in may not perform poems other than those for the person they are standing in for. If you would like your poetry performed, and cannot perform it yourself, but still desire to see it performed on stage but need help finding a pinch-hitter, please reach out and we will do our best to to find you someone willing!!