Poetry Slam

Last night I was blown away by the talent of the poets! I mean wow! I have never been to a poetry slam before so I had no idea what to expect.

So I’m sure you’ve seen the posters around campus or Just Jamaal The Poet around campus.  There are eight poets, three rounds, and one winner walks away 300 dollars richer. The coolest part of the experience was that the audience votes who moves on to the next round and the poets don’t know what the order is. Each poet was given a letter from A to H and the audience decides who they see next.

This was my first poetry slam, and I have to say it will not be my last. I was so impressed by the talent that I saw last night, they were all great. On top of that, it was awesome that two of the poets are Algonquin College students. I had such a hard time voting on the best poet, that I didn’t even get my ballot in on time! 

Last night’s poets were:

• CauseMo
• Kayla
• ArRay-of WoRds
• A human experience
• Hyf GypsySun
• VNessa Ballerz
• Fatima Allen
• Ali Islam
• PrufRock Shadowrunner (Special Guest)
• Just Jamaal The Poet (Host)

The poems ranged from discussing serious topics like the treatment of women, politics, and poverty, to sex, dating, and family. One of my favorite poems of the night was by VNessa Ballerz and she talked about 10 ways to get over your ex. The Poetry Slam reminded me of the movie, Eight Mile, as it was kind of like a rap contest without the backup music. They speak with passion and truly preform their words. It was not the finger snapping, quiet show stigma that I thought when I first heard about it.

I had a great time at the poetry slam and encourage everyone to check out the emerging poetry scene in Ottawa. It would be really cool if I saw YOU performing at the next Poetry Slam!