Join us on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 7:00pm for our Guelph Poetry Slam at The Round Table Board Game Café located at 32 Essex St, Guelph.
Our poetry slam includes a feature poet set, open mic, and poetry slam competition where one winning poet takes home $100. Advance tickets available on Eventbrite and limited tickets at the door.
While GPS and our venue are all ages, the language and content of the event often includes mature and politically/emotionally intense topics. We encourage you to look after yourself in any way you need, as long as it is respectful to others in the space.
Our poetry slam includes a feature poet set, open mic, and poetry slam competition where one winning poet takes home $100. Advance tickets available on Eventbrite and limited tickets at the door.
While GPS and our venue are all ages, the language and content of the event often includes mature and politically/emotionally intense topics. We encourage you to look after yourself in any way you need, as long as it is respectful to others in the space.
Poetry Slam Rules
Anyone can sign up and five members of the audience are selected to be judges at the slam, assigning each poetry performance a score from 0 to 10. Decimal points are highly encouraged. The poet in 1st place at the end of the night gets to go home with $100!
- Only original writing can be performed
- No costumes, props or musical accompaniments
- Poets have 3 minutes and a grace period of 10 seconds, 0.5 points will be deducted for every additional 10 seconds
- Come prepared with 2 poems, the top poets from the first round move on to the second round
- Group poems are encouraged
- There will be a sacrificial poet to calibrate the judges
- The order for each round is drawn randomly
The highest and lowest of the five scores are dropped, and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 30. The top poets from the first round move on to the second round, and first and second round scores will be added together for a total cumulative score out of 60.
Guelph Spoken Word operates on the traditional territory of the Chonnonton, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee peoples, and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We acknowledge the Two Row Wampum and Dish With One Spoon Covenant, and are responsible for upholding the agreements our ancestors made here. Indigenous peoples are integral to the story of this land. It is up to each of us to repair the damage done by settlers and the state of Canada, and build relationships based on reciprocity, respect and reconciliation.
