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Finnish Poetry Slam Final in Oulu |
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By Tunji Toriola
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Friday, 15 August 2008 |
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 The 9th Finnish Poetry Slam final will take place at Amarillo, Oulu on 30th August 2008, starting at 7pm. This is the first time the competition will be taking place in the city.
Last year, it was held in Kuopio where Jouko Saksio, a poet from Oulu, emerged as the national champion. He was also the national champion in the year 2006.
The final will be preceded by an elimination contest at 7pm on 21st August at Bar and Café PSK Kaupunni (Uusikatu 24). The elimination contest is open to everyone and the best three performers will qualify for the final where they will be joined by finalists from other cities. Performance can take place in any language. Poetry slam is a highly expressive form of poetry in which the poets perform to a live audience for three minutes and is devoid of any instrumentation, costumes or props. There are mainly three forms of Poetry Slams (i) Open slam where anyone who wishes to contest is allowed to contest and is the most common type (ii) Invitational Slam: Only previously selected people are allowed to take part and (iii) Theme slam in which all acts must conform to a specified theme or genre. The poets are then judged and rated on a numeric scale of zero to ten by pre-selected members of the audience. Marc Kelly Smith, a construction worker started Poetry Slam in Chicago in 1987 and since then, it has grown as a popular form of entertainment in over 50 countries worldwide with performances taking place at festivals, universities, and cultural centers. Every year, teams from America and European cities compete in National Poetry Slams with a rich blend of thousands of poetic voices. The first world cup was however held in Bobigny, France in 2007 and was won by the Americans.
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