Yep, it’s true; Guelph Spoken Word is turning 8! Every year we make it, is a testament to hard work, dedication, community and love of SPOKEN WORD, WRITTEN WORDS… ALL THE WORDS, SO SPREAD THE WORD.
To celebrate this milestone we will be having a few things during the month of November, including our monthly slam that started it all. We have pulled out all the stops in appreciation of each and every person who has ever contributed to the healthy roots in the community we have grown. If you have ever written a poem, attended, thought about coming, volunteered with us, slammed, been on an open mic, took a picture, judged, breathed a positive word to a friend, enemy, or semi- close acquaintance, or contributed to the healthy roots in the community we have grown… this slam is for you! Thank you.

Normally our cover is only $10, PWYC but take a load off this month and check your cushions for… fun! THIS EVENT IS FREE!!!!!!! There will be an open mic & a slam as always for a $100 prize (I think it may have your name on it). EVERYONE between the ages of in the womb to before the tomb is welcomed to attend. And the positions of judges, hand clappers, feet stompers, fist pumpers, voice boomers, roofer raisers, keen listeners, ooh aww-ers, and of course finger snappers will need to be filled, so see you there!

ABOUT OUR FEATURE: Jillian Christmas was born and raised in Markham, Ontario. She currently lives on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam people (Vancouver, BC.), where she serves as Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Words. Jillian is an enthusiastic organizer and activist in the Canadian arts community, her focus being to increase anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. She has participated in, developed and executed programs in partnership with Toronto Poetry Project, Wordplay, Brendan McLeod’s Travelling Slam, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Opera, and the CULTCH Mentorship, and facilitated spoken word workshops for youth and adults across the country.

GPS! Where are you at!?

Rules of slam are simple:
No Props
No costumes
No Musical Accompaniment
Each poet has 3 minutes
Original material only

How a slam works:
There will be 5 randomly selected judges giving scores from 0-10.
Judges will consider content and performance.
Highest and lowest scores will be dropped and the middle scores will be added for the highest possible score out of 30
Top four slammers will move on to a second round.
The poet with the highest score out of 60 will be considered this months champion.

Things to consider:
Collaboration is encouraged.
Each prop, costume and musical accompaniment violation come with a 2.0 point deduction
Each poet will receive a 10 second grace period, after which 0.5 points will be deducted for every part of 10 seconds they go over.

All Guelph Spoken Word events are promoted as consent positive spaces; we ask that all persons receive explicit consent before physically engaging another. Same goes for deep conversations and advice/feedback.
Language and content of GSW events can sometimes be intense and triggering, while GPS is an all ages event and we do most often have an active listen on hand, listener discretion is advised.
**Unfortunately our venue for GPS is not wheelchair accesible.**