Youth Slam
The 4th Monday of every month is the Crackerjack Lipsmacker Youth Slam, composed of an open mic, a poetry slam and a featured performer. Sign up for poets is 7–7:30pm and the show gets underway after 8 o'clock. Check the VPH calendar for dates and details of upcoming Youth Slams.
It's open to poets 14-22 years old. All poetic styles are welcome and all levels of experience too. Admission is $3 for 18 and under. $6 for 19 and older.
Same poetry slam rules apply to the Youth Slam as the Regular Slam. No props, no costumes, no musical instruments. Poets have 3 minutes or less to perform their poem. The poet must be the primary author of the piece. 5 random judges or teams of judges chosen from the crowd to give scores from 0–10. In the first round, up to 12 poets perform their work. The top five highest scoring poets move on to the second round where they perform another, different poem (with a time limit of 3 minutes again). The poet with the highest cumulative score wins the slam, and qualifies to compete in the Youth Grand Slam, the big annual competition that determines each year's Youth Slam Team.
Café Deux Soleils: 2096 Commercial Drive.
The first ever Van Slam Youth Team was created in 2007. It consisted of Andrew Pendragon George Puleston-Clarke, Olivia B, Ben Nixon, and Sasha Langford.
The second Youth Slam Team formed in 2009 and was composed of Jasleen Powar, Francis Arevalo, Kelsey Savage, and Reiley Murray.
The 2010 Youth Slam Team was Olivia Berger-Hawthorne, Marcela Huerta, Paul Fischer, Diana Itebu and Tessa Bourguignon.
The 2011 Youth Slam Team is (from left to right in the photo below) Francis Arevalo, Erin Kirsh, Mo Lawrence, Shayna Virginillo, and Mike Johnston.
