Spoken poetry competitions are nothing new. The Greeks held poetry contests and the Japanese had Haiku competitions. Though just recently, in the 1960s, American poetry began to draw upon this foundation, and in the 1980s slam poetry was put together in Chicago. It’s a new movement that is establishing credible poets as literature tends to move away from the written text with influence of the Internet and DVD.

Now, rather than mail your work to a publisher all you need is a webcam to post your self on YouTube. Some of my poetry teachers would cringe that I am referencing slam poetry. “What if they get on stage…and they’re terrible?” they said. However, some are rather fantastic including the nerds and geeks of the slam.

Slams are starting to be held all over the country including the National Poetry Slam each year. The general rules are that poets, within a team of poets from their local area, get three minutes to read an original work. There are no props, and a panel of judges, usually picked from the audience, score each poem from one to ten. The team with the most points wins.

Featured in the documentary SlamNation, Taylor Mali is a teacher and poet who has become one of the most successful individuals in the slam. He has lead six teams to the National Poetry Slam. He was also one of the original poets to be featured on Def Poetry Jam.

His style often derives from his teaching. Generally, he will poke at the faults of the public school kid and make a call to become greater. He enjoys the semantics of the English language and exploits English as a tool for humor and protest.

Big Poppa E, Eirik Ott, is a comedian and poet who delivers high energy rants. His most famous spoken word poem is The Wussy Boy Manifesto where he proclaims Duckie from Pretty in Pink an icon. He was fired from Apple Computer after he delivered a rant at the employee talent contest. The video, Why I Got Fired from Apple Computer, was added to YouTube and has over a million hits. Another equally entertaining poem is Frat Boy Poetry, where he manifests anger against Buck the frat boy.

Warning: strong language

Originally from Ohio, Shappy Seasholtz has dabbled in a little bit of everything: being in a high school punk band, a college Forensics champion, actor, and comedian. He has gone to one National Poetry Slam and travels to slams and speaking events over the world. He is a lover of Scrabble and comic books, while pursuing his mission of spreading the power of the nerd worldwide.

Warning: strong language

Dr. Geek is not a slam poet but he is worth including for a chuckle. He tokens himself as a “wordologist”. Comic and campy in style he has been featured on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the Dating Game.

Beau Sia is another poet featured in SlamNation as he has made a name for himself with his poetry and by appearing in small roles in movies. As Asian American often get a stereotype of being geek, Beau Sia uses race and satire to dismantle the idealisms that pervade his race. His style is often self-deprecating while also uplifting. He is by far one of the funniest slam poets out there.

Warning: strong language

If you are a poet or a writer and want a traditional way to publish your work I recommend www.dustbooks.com. You can obtain the latest copy of The International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses or The International Directory of Poetry Publishers. As summer comes closer many magazines and publishes will be accepting your collections and writing samples for scholarships and cash prizes.

Best Regards,

Alexander the Geek