Vancouver Poetry Slam

The Vancouver Poetry Slam has been wowing audiences since 1996, making it the longest-running poetry slam in Canada.

The poetry slam arts movement started in Chicago in the 1980s. Marc Smith was a construction worker who wanted to make poets and audiences more responsive to each other. More history here.

At a slam, the poet must perform a poem of their own creation, in any style, within the time limit without the aid of props, costumes, nudity, animal acts, or musical accompaniment.

During the Winter Season (from September–March), the slam format consists of two rounds of 3-minute poems. During the Summer Season (from April–August), the slam format consists of three rounds: a 2-minute round, a 1-minute round, and a 4-minute round.

5 randomly selected judges are chosen from the audience. They score each poem from 0 to 10.

It might seem bizarre to reduce something as abstract as a poem to a hard numerical score. To understand the philosophy of poetry slam, you must understand its history. The poetry slam was invented by Marc Smith, a construction worker in Chicago in 1984. He was frustrated by snooty, elitist poets who appeared to have no interest in connecting with a live audience, and decided to stage a poetry reading in which the audience would have a way of giving the poets direct feedback – through scores.

The very word ‘poetry’ repels people. Why is that? Because of what schools have done to it. The slam gives it back to the people…. We need people to talk poetry to each other. That’s how we communicate our values, our hearts, the things that we’ve learned that make us who we are. ~ Marc Smith

Slam is a phenomenon that has spread throughout the world. One of France’s most celebrated slammers describes it this way:

Le slam est peut-être un art, le slam est peut-être un mouvement, le slam est sûrement un Moment. ~ Grand Corps Malade

What is a poetry slam?

The poetry slam arts movement started in Chicago in the 1980s. Marc Smith was a construction worker who wanted to make poets and audiences more responsive to each other. More history here.

At a slam, the poet must perform a poem of their own creation, in any style, within the time limit without the aid of props, costumes, nudity, animal acts, or musical accompaniment.

During the Winter Season (from September–March), the slam format consists of two rounds of 3-minute poems. During the Summer Season (from April–August), the slam format consists of three rounds: a 2-minute round, a 1-minute round, and a 4-minute round.

5 randomly selected judges are chosen from the audience. They score each poem from 0 to 10.

Get in touch

Contact the Slam Coordinator slamcoordinator@vancouverpoetryhouse.com if you would like to find out more about VanSlam.