PORT ANGELES — Jennifer Knight is inviting young people to stand up, speak up and take part in a slam.
That’s the first-ever Poetry Slam, at the Port Angeles Library, open to poets and performers in grades six through nine, at 6:30 p.m. April 21.
This is called a slam — not a reading — because it’s all about dramatic performance, the art of spoken word and shaking things up at the library.
And in the slam-poetry tradition begun in 1986 at Chicago’s Green Mill jazz club, those who come to recite their chosen bit will compete against one another to see who can give the most and best drama.
It’s free to be in the slam, and Knight, Port Angeles’ youth services librarian, will award winners prizes, including an iPod nano, an iPod shuffle and local bookstore gift certificates.
This North Olympic Library System event is sponsored by the Friends of the Port Angeles Library. The Friends raise money through their used-book sales at the main library at 2210 S. Peabody St.
The slam, a grass-roots celebration of National Poetry Month, will be open to the public.
Time to choose a poem
Now’s a good time to choose a poem — either your original work or a favorite poem to recite, Knight said.
The slam will have two categories: recitations, in which the contestant must memorize and act out his or her chosen piece, and originals, in which the entrant reads his or her own work aloud.
The original poems will be judged on content, while the recitations will be judged on performance ability.
The deadline to sign up for the slam is Monday, April 18, and while slammers must provide an advance copy of the poem, Knight said she won’t censor entries.
“We’re not going to veto subject matter. But we might veto if they want to do the ‘Iliad,’” or some other epic, she added.
Performers are asked to choose a piece they can present in five minutes or less.
“We’re a library. We’re in the business of free speech,” Knight said.
Students ready
Already, a group of sixth-graders from Franklin Elementary School and eighth-graders at Stevens Middle School in Port Angeles have let Knight know they want to slam.
Among them are Stevens poets Tim Schneider, 13, and Alanna Brown, Karen Davis and Sarah Cline, all 14.
“This is kind of weird, but I like writing a lot,” Davis said.
“I like poetry. It’s pretty — sometimes,” Brown added.
Davis’ poem is titled “Battlefield,” Brown’s is “World of White,” Schneider’s is “The Darkness” and Cline’s is simply “Chris.”
The Poetry Slam is just one of the North Olympic Library System events designed especially for young people, Knight said.
Details about other activities and services at the Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay libraries await at www.NOLS.org.
The April 21 slam “is a great opportunity to perform in public,” she added. “This is our inaugural [slam]. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen.”
Knight can be reached and slam participants can register at 360-417-8502 or youth@NOLS.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
