The University of Wisconsin Office of Multicultural Arts Initiative along with the First Wave Hip-Hop Theater Ensemble partnered to sponsor the Wisconsin Youth Poetry Slam competition this week.
The semi-finals, which will be free and open to the public, will be held throughout this week at local high schools, a UW press release said.
UW senior and OMAI Creative Director Rafael Casal said the top 16 to 20 competitors will compete at the state finals, to be held Feb. 26 in the Memorial Union Theater. The judges will be local residents from the hip-hop, writing and radio community.
Casal added the four highest scoring performers will win a spot on the national team, which will compete at the upcoming Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival.
The festival is the foremost international slam poetry competition, Casal said. In addition to the young poets, Hip-Hop theater artist Queen GodIs will perform.
Casal said he got into slam poetry in high school through local school slams like these. He was on his regional team for three years, and has attended the Brave New Voices competition — an international competition held in Los Angeles every summer.
“I think the appeal [of slam poetry] for me… is that it’s a place to present spoken word where there’s a guaranteed larger audience,” Casal said.
He added poetry slam audiences tend to be large and loud, though always supportive.
Casal’s poems often focus on a commonplace subject. He said he likes to make people think differently about something of which they already know.
Casal called slam poetry “a gateway art form.” He added from slam poetry a person can easily go to acting, screenplay writing, opera or even choreography.
UW holds open non-scoring slams the first Friday of every month. Casal, who also occasionally teaches slam poetry workshops to beginners, said most people need help with the structure and style of their poems.
“You’d be surprised how easily people pour out what they think,” Casal said.
Tickets for the finals are currently on sale online and at the Union Theatre Box Office.
