Vancouver Poetry Slam
Hello, My Name is Van Slam
The Vancouver Poetry Slam has been wowing audiences since 1996, making it the longest-running poetry slam in Canada.
- When: Every Monday
- Where: Café Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive)
- How much: Only $6 - $10
- Who: YOU!
1st, 3rd & 5th Monday: Open Slam
2nd Monday: Alternative/Themed Slam
4th Monday: Youth Slam (ages 14 - 22)
What is a Poetry Slam?
The poet must perform a poem of their own creation, in any style, within the time limit without the aid of props or music.
5 randomly selected audience members will become judges and are given score cards to score the poet from zero to 10.
Where To Find Out More
Van Slam Qualifies Poets for Tournaments
Performance poetry tournaments are popping up all over North America. It seems like there's a new one each year! The Vancouver Poetry Slam has various seasons throughout the year, in which poets can qualify for playoff rounds by winning a slam. We host three separate playoff events: the team playoffs (for NPS & CFSW), the individual playoffs (for IWPS and Canadian Indies) and the all-woman playoffs (for WOWps).
National Poetry Slam
The grand-daddy of them all. The largest annual gathering of poets in one place. The biggest adult poetry slam tournament on planet Earth.
In 2011, Van Slam will send one team composed of 4 poets. They are The Svelte Ms. Spelt, Lisa B, Olivia B, Lisa Slater and Clint 'Father Goose' Wilson.
- NPS 2010 was hosted by Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota.
- NPS 2011 will be hosted by Boston, Massachusetts.
Canadian Festival of Spoken Word
CFSW is the gathering of the best performance poets in Canada. It is organized by Spoken Word Canada, or SPOCAN. (The other three tournaments listed here are organized by Poetry Slam Incorporated.)
The Van Slam team selected at Finals Night represents Vancouver at both NPS and CFSW, so the qualifying season and playoffs for this tournament are the same as for NPS.
- CFSW 2010 was hosted by Ottawa.
- CFSW 2011 will be hosted by Toronto.
Individual World Poetry Slam
Pronounced "iWhips" by those who know and love it well, this is the showdown of the best performance poets at work today.
The 2011 IWPS qualifying season in Vancouver will run from May until September 2011. The playoff round to determine Vancouver's representative will be in September 2011. This poet will also win a spot to represent Vancouver at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in April 2012.
- IWPS 2010 was hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- IWPS 2011 will be hosted by Cleveland, Ohio on October 12–15
Women of the World Poetry Slam
An all-woman event created by women for women poetry slam competitors. Poets who live their lives as women will be eligible to participate in WOWps.
The qualifying season for WOWps 2012 starts in September 2011 and goes until January 2012. The Grand Slam to determine this rep will be held in Jan 2012.
- WOWps 2011 was hosted by Columbus, Ohio.
- WOWps 2012 will be hosted by Denver, Colorado.
Van Slam's National Slammaster: Sean McGarragle
Sean McGarragle is a sitting board member for the Spoken Word Arts Network, the current chair for Spocan: a collection of spoken word series organizers within Canada and the founder of the West Coast Poetry Festival, the Bolts of Fiction Literary Association and a board member of the Vancouver Poetry House.
Sean has toured Canada and parts of the United States as a spoken word artist and has shared stages with spoken word stalwarts such as Lillian Allen, Shane Koyczan, Ken Mitchell, Dwayne Morgan, Andrea Thompson and Sheri-D Wilson.
“The Vancouver Poetry Slam is the most successful reading series / spoken word series in Canada not because we have the best poets (which we do), not because we get the most funding (which we don’t) but because our audience is the best in the country. Even before you’ve stepped onto our stage they already love you. And we try to cultivate that wherever possible”
Van Slam's International Slammaster: Duncan Shields
Duncan Shields, International Slammaster for the Vancouver Poetry Slam, is a computer animator for video games. He also likes to write. He grew up in Nelson, British Columbia and now lives in Vancouver after a five year stint in Edinburgh, Scotland. He’s a tall man. He hopes one day to have the attention span and the time to write a novel but for now he’s very happy to be involved with the Vancouver Poetry Slam. He’s a bit of a freak for movies and misses working in the video store. He has a mildly large collection of comics, DVDs and toys. He’s trying his hardest to earn a living by being creative any way he can. He has blue eyes, a few tattoos, he’s a libra, enjoys the rain and likes bland burritos. He’s happy to be here.
“The first time I took the stage to read my poetry at the Vancouver Poetry Slam, the paper I was reading from nearly shook out of my hand for the entire poem. For one terrifying moment about halfway through, I thought I was going to faint. If it wasn’t for the encouragement of fellow poets and the love from the audience, I might have never spoken into a microphone again. The Vancouver Poetry Slam is a permissive and safe place for poets to express themselves. I feel very lucky to be involved.”
Van Slam's Slammaster Elect: Jessica Mason-Paull
Jessica has been an active member of the Vancouver Poetry Slam since 2005. A regular host and long time heckler she resides in East Vancouver. As Slammaster, she hopes to bring new and fabulous features, events and energy to this already incredible community. If you have advice, wisdom, demands or ideas please send her an email (jessica@vancouverpoetryhouse.com) and she will gladly discuss what you have to say. She really enjoys pickled things and pets with politicians names.
