Last month, Hamline held its second poetry slam of the year featuring Hamline students performing their original poetry. If you were there, then you know how amazing and inspiring all of the performers were. If you weren’t there, then I highly recommend you come to the next one. Here’s why:
Coming to the Hamline poetry slams shows your support to your friends. Even if you don’t know anyone who is performing, come to support other local artists. They are working extremely hard to express personal stories and events that are important to them and to share them with the public. If you don’t want to just sit and watch, maybe even try some spoken word poetry yourself.
Some topics of poetry at these slams include racial discrimination, sexual assault, body images, mental illness, and much more. This doesn’t mean you have to speak about those topics. Talk about anything that you feel is worth sharing and make sure you are comfortable sharing it with a large audience. Hamline’s poetry slams are all about expressing something important to you to a supportive group of people. Everyone in the audience will appreciate anything you have to say so there’s no harm in trying.
Another reason to come to the poetry slams is that you have the chance to see a performance from an award-winning poet and even meet them after the slam. The first slam of the year in September featured two-time National Poetry Slam Champion, Sierra DeMulder and the most recent slam featured two-time Women of the World Poetry Slam Finalist, Ashlee Haze. Haze sold and autographed copies of her new book, Land of the Living, and after starting it, I could not put it down.
By coming to these slams you have the opportunity to see incredible performances and meet famous poets who spread their work to millions of people across the nation. You could be one of those people because you never know what you might relate to.
Bonus: there’s always free food at the slams! You and your friends can stuff your faces with baked goods while watching awesome performances by your peers and famous poets.
It is incredibly important to support spoken word artists as they speak up for those who don’t have a voice. Attending Hamline’s poetry slams helps them share their message to a wide audience. So show your support and come to the next slam!