This is an attempt to give performance poetry a bit of a push, to bring some new voices out into the open, to put a little more audience participation into poetry, and, not least, to have a little fun.The slam made its debut at Kala Ghoda in 2007 (the first in India, actually) to much enjoyment from the audience and the participants, and has returned in 2008 and 2009 to just as much enthusiasm and support.
Themes
There are no required themes. Since it’s St. Valentine’s Day, we suggest you bring at least one love poem.
We’re proponents of free speech, but please understand (1) that we must abide by the laws of the land, and (2) that there may be children present in the audience. Please don’t bring poems that could get the Festival in trouble with the law.
Date and Venue
6:00 p.m., Sunday, 14th February, 2010, at the David Sassoon Library Garden
Deadlines
For initial submission via email: midnight 10th February, 2010. (We may extend this deadline, but don’t count on it.)
To respond to the invitation to the Slam: noon, 13 February, 2010.
On the day of the Slam, 14th February 2010: report to the sound console at the David Sasson Library, Kala Ghoda, by 5.30 p.m, and ask to speak to one of the Literature volunteers. Please show all five of your poems to the contest organisers present.
How our Poetry Slam works
Even if you know how a conventional Slam works, please read this section. There are more than a few tweaks.
Before the Slam:
Each poet must have ready at least five poems.
To be invited to compete in the Slam, you must submit one poem via email. (See address at the bottom of this post.)
The organisers/judges will short-list poets from the entries. Selection criteria will be the quality of the writing and how well, in the judges’ opinion, those poems lend themselves to performance.
The selected poets will be informed of their selection only via email. Their participation will be confirmed only once they reply to that email and commit to performing at the Slam on the 14th February and that they will come prepared to perform five of their poems.
At the event:
Participants in each round will perform in random order.
After each round, the judges will vote, and the competitors with the lowest points in that round will be eliminated, until we have a winner. The exact number that will be eliminated in each round will be decided depending on the number of participants selected to compete in the Slam, and will be announced before the performances start.
Scoring will be cumulative. Those who survive each round will carry their points with them. Elimination in each round will be based on total scores up to that point. In case of a tie, the totals from that specific round will be used as a tie-breaker.
Rules and Conditions
Submit only one poem via email.
The contest is open to anyone, anywhere, with the exception of the jury or their family members. No, to make it absolutely clear, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been published or not, whether you’ve performed before or not.Since the main event is live on stage, selected participants must be prepared to travel to the venue (at their own expense), from wherever they are, to perform their work.
Each poem must take no longer than two minutes to perform. Time on stage will be kept strictly, and you will be cut off if you exceed the limit.
Entries must be in English.
Entries must be your own, original work.
Participants selected for the Slam can, on stage, read, recite, declaim, shout, or sing their words. They can stand still, gesture, pace, even jump and up and down. They will be judged on both the quality of the words they perform and the performance itself.
No costumes, musical accompaniment, or audio visual aids allowed.
There is no entry fee.Submissions remain the intellectual property of the entrants, but by submitting an entry, you give the the Kala Ghoda Association, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and its Sponsors, and Caferati permission to use your entry, with acknowledgement, but with no payment to you, in their websites, as part of Press Releases (where they may be reproduced by media organisations), and in a possible special booklet or CD featuring the best of the Festival.
The decisions of the jury are final and binding, and no correspondence will be entertained regarding the jury’s decisions.
Judges
Caferati’s editors will evaluate initial submissions.
On the event day, there will be a panel of 6 judges.
The expert panel:
(to be announced)
The Audience Panel:
Three randomly chosen members of the audience will join the experts to help judge each round.
Prizes
Prizes worth approximately Rs 3000, Rs 2000, and Rs 1000 to be won.
Winners will be announced at the end of the contest, on the evening of 14th February, 2010, at the David Sassoon Library Garden.
How to enter
Email editors AT caferati DOT com with the subject line “Kala Ghoda Poetry Slam 2010“
