It began as the usual last Thursday of the month edition of the Singapore Poetry Slam™ on 26th of October. But soon, all hell broke loose as poets who had descended on Blu Jaz Café began to cast their intricate and well-worded love spells during the Open Mic and then the Slam competition. In between the three rounds all tried out strange magical concoctions at the bar, including the 'Poetry Slam' - our own custom cocktail which packs a rum and fruity punch. The mocktail version also has its own ginger twist and proved popular. Meanwhile, the volunteer judges dutifully held up whiteboard scores round after round, while the audience in the thrall of weird words egged on each poet.
At the end of the night leading outlander voodoo wordsmith Atiq Lukman stood up victorious against runner-up Amber Lin, following her recent poet-shaman residency at Hogwarts Institution. it was a close fight and the audience felt pinpricks or goosebumps right to the last poetic line of the night. Judges and audience both departed, sated and quenched after a night where no love spell was left untried. We observed many went home with different partners proving the efficacy of poetry as practical magic. Even first timer to the Slam - Piyush Joshi, a volunteer judge for the night won the lucky draw, walking away with a copy of A History of Clocks by Jennifer Anne Champion, published by Red Wheelbarrow Books, Word Forward's spoken word publishing imprint.
If you couldn’t make it for this October edition of the Singapore Poetry Slam™ come on down for the 'True Confessions Poetry Slam', the final event of the year on 30 November, the last Thursday of the month. Many thanks to all those who came to support this month, and of course, our venue partner Blu Jaz Cafe.