The Top Spoken Word Artists in the Eastern U.S. Gather in Manchester, NH for Two Nights of Poetry Competition and Workshops, Sept. 23 and 24 at Stark Brewing Company (Milly’s Tavern.)
MANCHESTER, NH – Slam Free or Die will host the fourth annual VOX POP Poetry Slam Tournament (formerly known as N.U.T.S.) on Friday, Sept. 23 and Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 at Stark Brewing Company (Milly’s Tavern) in Manchester. The two-day event offers poetry writing and performance workshops and will culminate in a battle of words that will make the winning team $1,000 richer. Area poets are invited to compete, and the poetry battles, or bouts, are open to the public. This event is especially exciting because it is the only pick-up team poetry slam tournament in all of the northeastern U.S. and the largest poetry slam tournament ever held in New Hampshire!
On Friday, Sept. 23, at Stark Brewing Company, there will be performance showcase of the poets who will be facilitating the workshops on Saturday, followed by an individual poetry slam in which 10 poets will face off across three rounds. Like the rest of the tournament, there will be a few twists on the ‘normal’ poetry slam structure, forcing the competing poets to think outside the box and keep things interesting. One winner will walk away with $100. Doors open at 7 p.m. with a $5 cover.
On Saturday, Sept. 24, during the day, at Stark Brewing Company, Slam Free or Die will offer three two-hour writing and performance workshops with the first one starting at 10 a.m. Each one will be unique and hosted by a different special guest poet. Cost of workshops will range from $5 to $10 (depending on which workshop) and seating is limited so it recommended that people looking to take part arrive early.
Then, that evening, is the main event! Ten ‘pick-up’ teams will compete in two, 5-team bouts, with the top two teams advancing to an exciting, final ‘Deathmatch’ to decide which one will walk away with a top prize of $1,000 cash. ‘Pick-up’ teams allow poets to choose their own teammates (normally, teams are decided through competition) and therefore put together their ‘dream team’ resulting in combinations of poets (and poems) that may seldom or never been seen again outside of this event. Doors open at 6 p.m. and there is a $5 cover for this all-ages show.
Judges will be needed for both nights of competition. In poetry slam, judges are chosen from the audience and the only qualification needed is that they do not know anyone who is competing. People who have never been to an event like this before are strongly encouraged to attend and people who have are encouraged to bring their uninitiated friends. Anyone eligible who volunteers to judge will be let in free of charge until enough judges are located for the competition to begin.
“The VOX POP Poetry Slam Tournament is an attempt to throw a monkey wrench into the ‘normal’ structures of poetry slam and add some unique twists to keep both the poets and the audience on their toes,” explains Mark Palos, SlamMaster of Slam Free or Die. “The teams competing on Friday will be much more diversified and random than you would see at other national poetry slam competitions, and the $1,000 cash prize just adds more incentive for them to bring their best work.”
- Click here for more information on the event, go to:
- Entry fee for each team will be $100. Click here to register a
- Entry fee for poets in the individual competition will be $10. Click here to register.
- Information about the workshops will be announced on the Slam Free or Die Facebook page during the first week of September.
