One of the very first events of Youth Week 2012 is Youth Slam! at the Calgary Spoken Word Festival this Saturday, April 14, and it sure won’t be an event to miss. Presented with the Calgary Public Library, This Is My City and Youth Central, Youth Slam! aims to encourage youth to embrace SLAM and spoken word poetry. This week’s slam is Sustainable Poetry, and I know that I’m excited to see the spoken word talent of Calgary’s youth.
In case you didn’t know, spoken word poetry is a form that uses devices such as alliteration and metered verse to express a social commentary. It’s a bit of a monologue, a bit of an improvisation, and a bit of a storytelling, and from what spoken word I’ve previously seen, it’s completely awesome. SLAM! is high-energy poetry competition, pulled together with diverse poets and an enthusiastic audience. A panel of judges is chosen randomly from the audience, and each poet is scored based on their writing, their performance, and the audience’s reaction. Slams bring poetry to a whole new level of entertainment, so even if you’re not someone who’s big on poetry, it’s still guaranteed to be enjoyable.
If you’ve got a slow Saturday afternoon (come on, how many times can you go to the mall before the novelty of burning through disposable income wears off?), I highly encourage you to come on out to the Youth Slam! Whether you want to be a part of the rock-concert energy of the audience or even take a stab at the competition itself (there are prizes!), it’ll be the coolest Saturday you’ve had in a while.
When: Saturday, April 14, 2012 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: The Downtown Library, John Dutton Theatre (616 Macleod Trail SE)
Cost: Free!
For more information on spoken word poetry or the Youth Slam! competition, visit the Calgary Spoken Word Festival’s website.
Check out the dozens of other awesome events happening this April as part of Youth Week at Youth Central’s site!