The stage is set with lights illuminating the single microphone poised in the center of the room. The crowd claps as the first poet launches into an expressive poem about the morality of playing God, commanding the attention of the audience with his animated hands and booming voice, performing a poem titled “A Letter to Mr. Hammond of Jurassic Park.”
The members of the audience snap in approval when he asks Mr. Hammond, “Do you think they know how far they are from the stars, or do they think it’s just another cage?” You can feel in the air that nobody in the room was free from goosebumps.
On April 4, the University of Oregon’s Poetry Slam group held its “Off to Austin Showcase,” which highlighted work from the poets who will be representing UO at the 2016 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational later this week. The group of students will compete with their best rhymes and writing at the University of Texas in Austin from April 6–9 against upwards of 70 other college teams from around the world.
After being founded in 2013 by undergraduates Alexander Dang and Hannah Golden, Poetry Slam has grown to five enthusiastic members spanning a spectrum of ages and majors. This is the group’s second year traveling to this competition, and the poems they showcased touched on topics ranging from masturbation to issues of identity, race, abuse and societal beauty standards.
“The big difference between written word and slam poetry is the performance because you can’t just go up there and read something off a piece of paper and expect people to feel things about it,” said Annalee Nock, a freshman competitor. “I am excited because it’s just people coming to talk about their feelings, and I love that because it doesn’t happen very often.”
In addition to the competition, this weekend will provide opportunities for the group to watch other poets, participate in workshops and recite niche poem types like haiku and “nerd poems.” Nock calls it a “Coachella for poetry.”
While Golden says they are more serious about competing this year and are looking to “ruffle some feathers,” it’s more about the power of the poetry in the end. That’s why she and Dang started this group in the first place.
“It’s about having a space to share poetry and meet other poets and not feel like you’re on your own,” said Golden. “To have something like this that you can go to every week, it’s invaluable to have that experience.”
After many compelling and energetic performances, the group took to the floor together to perform a lighthearted piece titled “House Party” in which they accurately outlined and somehow beautified the crazy reality of a college house party.
This showcase was just one of many events hosted by the group every term in order to help engage the community in slam poetry. It often organizes open mic nights, workshops and more. The next event will be a showcase on April 12 in Global Scholars Hall Great Room, hosted by well-known slam poet Mighty Mike McGee.