Poetry slam debuts to rave reviews
By Patricia Jiayi Ho
It was a cold and dark weekday night, but on Thursday, Oct. 30, Santa Clara held its first successful poetry slam.
Over 40 people gathered in Daly Science 203 to watch six poets compete for cash prizes and a chance to represent Santa Clara at the National College Poetry Slam, to be held next year in Berkeley.
While there have been on-campus open mics before, this marks the first time a full-blown slam, complete with judges pulled from the audience and a point scoring system, was held. Previous attempts were called off due to paltry attendance.
The event, dubbed "Broncos Have Hearts Too," came about mainly from the efforts of senior classics major, Chris Hughes.
"It's very much a strung together with shoelaces type of operation, stuck together with spit and bubblegum," jokes Hughes. "They say that performing poetry means that you're too poor to afford the 'v' in poverty."
A fan of the genre since high school, Hughes distributed 400 little pink flyers advertising the event and solicited the help of various campus organizations. The event featured the star power of Mike McGee, a San Jose native and current number one slam poet in the United States.
Slams differ from open mics in their emphasis on performance and competition. Whereas crowds at open mics typically clap politely, audiences at slams are encouraged to be more honest (and vocal) about their opinions.
"The culture of slam really helps to break down the fourth wall," Hughes says, referring to the invisible division between the audience in their seats and performers on stage. "Because [slam] has its beginnings in a bar, it is more populist, more democratic."
Hughes also appreciates the instantaneous feedback through the scoring system that the genre allows.
"It tells you very clearly when something is wrong with your piece. It can make you cry," he says, "but it also helps to weed out the wimps."
Carriage is just as, if not more, important than content, according to sophomore Mike Gustie, who placed second.
"It's like delivering a speech without the added burden of being coherent," he says. The English and philosophy major had previously participated in slams only as an audience member. First place went to Lee Knight Jr., who is not affiliated with Santa Clara.
"I love how you can listen and be entertained at two levels," says Adrianne Anderson, a junior English major and spoken word fan. "You can pay close attention to their words and metaphors, but you can also just enjoy the sounds and rhythms of the words, the inflections in their voices, their facial expressions, their tones."
While the prizes ($35 for first place and a $25 Target gift certificate for second) are nothing to write home about, the returns of slam poetry are measured in different units.
"The best part is just the chance to get your views out there, to have your thoughts heard and appreciated," Gustie says.
The next Santa Clara slam is slated for Nov. 19 in the Williman Room. Sign ups are at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 8:30 p.m.
Contact Patricia Jiayi Ho at (408) 554-4852 or pjho@scu.edu.