The SINGAPORE POETRY SLAM, THE BASICS
ITS BACKGROUND AND RULESPoetry Slam™, the competitive art of writing and performing poetry is staged as a friendly 3-round contest.
Within the last 30 years it has become a world-wide literary movement bringing millions of listeners and readers back to poetry because of its audience-centred entertainment and social value. Poetry Slam™ was originally described as a ‘pop culture phenomenon’ but has now been embraced by literary festivals and communities around the world popularising poetry once more as an oral art form. There are slam events in every major city of North America and many more in Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Sweden, UK and other European cities. "The points are not the point, the point is Poetry." – Alan Wolf WHAT KIND OF POETRY CAN YOU READ AT A SLAM Poets are free to do work in any style on any subject if it is not a specialised (thematic) Poetry Slam. |
IN SINGAPORE, SOME HISTORYIn Singapore, the first Singapore Poetry Slam™ kicked off on May 27, 2003 and has continued once a month since then. The Poetry Slam™ Cabaret also hosted dance, theatre, comedy and short film screenings and was hosted by co-founder Chris Mooney-Singh. This was the first regular ticketed event in Singapore with a $10 entry which has helped give more professional dignity to the literary arts in Singapore, a trend followed by The Singapore Writers Festival and now many more spoken word events.
Where it all began in Singapore. From 2003-8 the Poetry Slam at Velvet Underground at the original Zouk Club was the first home of the Singapore Slam.
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