Poetry slams home

Once the preserve of pretentious sixth formers and beardy old men, poetry has been given a shot in the arm and dragged into the new century by contests known as ‘Slams’, and Glasgow is at the forefront of the movement. Instead of stuffy gatherings, performers get up on stage and are judged on their delivery as much their rhyming skills. Poets get a strict time limit to perform their material and the winner gets a cash prize. Robin Cairns has run poetry slams in Glasgow for the past four years. He has seen a huge surge of interest in spoken word events during that time. He said: ‘When I started doing this seven or eight years ago it was a desert, I was having to travel to Edinburgh to see other poets in action and find a stage to stand on. Nobody was running slams in Glasgow until I started about four years ago. I organise it along what I call Glasgow rules, everyone gets two goes of two minutes each. Usually its only three minutes for each performer and they get scored on that. Our way, everyone feels involved and part of the whole night. If you are out first and fluff it because you are nervous, or if the crowd aren’t warmed up, you get a chance to redeem yourself. Its especially important for people who are travelling or for first timers, you don’t want them to do badly and then never come back. The slam format makes it more accessible for young people. Folk are used to this X-Factor thing that has come into vogue in past few years. We are like a TV talent show except its not a lie, our performers actually have talent. Its not just a shabby karaoke contest, they are all doing original work that they’ve written themselves.’

Competitors are gearing up for the Scottish Poetry Slam Championship on Friday 5 March at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow, part of the Aye Write festival. This is one of the biggest slam events in the UK, second only to the Cheltenham Literary Festival which claims to be the biggest.

There are other spoken word nights running in Glasgow, each with its own unique atmosphere. Monosyllabic is a regular night at Mono run by playwright and journalist Wendy Miller. Discombobulate runs monthly at the Arches, and has featured readings by James Kelman and musician Aidan Moffat. Seeds of Thought is a poetry group started by Tawona Sithole in 2005. Tawona came to Glasgow from Zimbabwe to study for a BSc in Health Studies at Glasgow Caledonian University. He was inspired by the tradition of storytelling and song which he experienced while growing up. He said: “At family gatherings, everyone would tell a story or play an instrument, everyone took part and was encouraged. Seeds of Thought provides a medium for people to come together and share their culture through spoken word, music and visual arts. People come together and inspire each other and collaborate. Its a great vibe just now, so many people have come along and now feel confident enough to get up and perform, everyone has a story to tell. We break the night up with music and drama, as well as spoken word performances.”