Poetry Slam

Co-Coordinator: Bradley Shreve
Email: Bradley@tribalcollegejournal.org

Co-Coordinator: Marvene Tom
Email: Marvene@tribalcollegejournal.org

Competition Objectives

• The AIHEC Student Congress (ASC) and Tribal College Journal (TCJ) united to create the Poetry Slam to promote free individual expression and showcase literary talent and skills and provide an incentive for greater literary talent and skill.
• The Poetry Slam occurs on the same evening as the annual ASC T-shirt Exchange.

Competition Rules

1. There are no restrictions on how students deliver their poem, what they say, or the overall subject matter.
2. A member of the current sitting AIHEC Student Congress will serve as the Master of Ceremonies, introducing competing Poets, enforcing the rules, organizing the judges, and entertaining the audience between rounds.
3. Judges are selected randomly from among the students before the Slam begins by officers of the AIHEC Student Congress. Competing poets cannot be judges.
4. Each TCU is permitted to have a representative register for the event (37 total participants). If a TCU does not register a student for the poetry slam, the coordinators of the poetry slam may have first-come-first-serve registration at the door until the event has reached the maximum of 37 participants.
5. Another officer of the AIHEC Student Congress will serve as the sacrificial poet to begin the evening. The sacrificial poet will read a poem to serve as calibration for the judges and audience.
6. Scoring will be based on a scale of zero to ten (0-10), with zero (0) being the lowest score and ten (10) being the highest score obtainable. Judges may use decimal points in their score. After each poet, the judges will write their score on a provided tablet. The Master of Ceremonies will read the names of the top poets at the conclusion of each round.
7. There are (4) rounds in the Poetry Slam.  One entry per TCU is allowed to enter the first round, but the judges will only select the eight (8) best poets to advance to the second round. After the second round, the four (4) best poets advance. After the third round, the top two (2) poets compete for AIHEC Poet of the Year honors.
8. No props or musical instruments are permitted.
9. Each poet has three (3) minutes to introduce and deliver his/her poem.
10. Poets will say their name, tribal college, and title of their poem CLEARLY for the judges before every recitation.
11. One (1) poem per round. Poets may not deliver the same poem again. If he/she advances to the next round, they will deliver a new poem.

Competition Guidelines and Procedures

• The Poetry Slam is coordinated by the AIHEC Student Congress and the Tribal College Journal. The Poetry Slam coordinator will reserve an appropriately-sized Poetry Slam location for ~ three hundred (300) people.
• The Poetry Slam coordinator will provide periodic updates to the host committee concerning room requirements and scheduling.
• The Poetry Slam coordinator may use the proven rules from above and make adjustments as the need arises to adapt to the specific host location, participant-entry size, budget limitations, etc.
• The Poetry Slam coordinator needs to recruit ~ four (4) to five (5) ASC Officers to assist with selecting judges, onsite setup, registration, and organizing the poets into an order to reduce downtime between recitations.
• Suggested Checklist of Materials to setup for Poetry Slam: As many round tables as fit into the space with black table cloths and tea-light candles on each table. Rent one spotlight for the presenter. Black drape curtains behind a 12 x 16 stage. Food and coffee, tea, and other drinks. One wired microphone with a stand and one wireless microphone for the MC.
• The coordinator arrives at the conference at least four (4) hours before the competition to setup the room reserved for the Poetry Slam with the stage and the maximum number of chairs allowed for the space.
• The ASC T-shirt Exchange will occur just prior to the beginning of the Poetry Slam as Poets register for the event.

Registration Deadline: Friday, February 24, 2023

To register for this event, please download the application and email Bradley Shreve (Bradley@tribalcollegejournal.org) or Marvene Tom (Marvene@tribalcollegejournal.org):

PDF Document: Download and REGISTER