Tayari's Blog: Its Not The Points

As the face of the American political climate began to change, the audiences changed too. Wicker Park, a gritty neighborhood just a little bit west of downtown Chicago started to get cleaner. Lofts and boutiques moved in. No matter hard you shook the stage, more people came to be seen than to listen. The vibe was like some hip hop concerts in big venues where most of the people in the audience have little in common with the performers. I felt like people would rather blow their smoke in the front row and talk like I was just ambient music.

Not all slam venues are like this, but the point is, things were changing and I had to decide what to do next. I wasn’t going to make CDs or videos. I’ve always wanted to write books of poetry. Slam gave me the confidence to venture into workshops and eventually in graduate school because I knew I had a voice of my own.

Flash forward to 2007. I was invited back to the National Poetry Slam in Austin, TX this summer to participate in the Slam Legends showcase and two panel discussions.

All these feelings come back about the competitive spirit and performing poems that may not reflect where my writing is now. I imagined poets much younger than me, with more “punchlines” infused into their work. Instead, I was in a panel called “Slam and the Academy” about the economics, the changing audiences and the pedagogy of spoken word and performance poetry. We also talked about how ethnic identities are performed in certain venues and the impact of audience. I led another panel the next day where we talked about things we can do to start to develop a community that is not strictly poetry slams. These conversations have to happen, not just because so many young poets think that the slam and going on tour is a career. The significance of poetry is that we can carry it with us. We can teach it, recite it and write it damn near anywhere. It is not just on DVD, cable television or youtube.

I felt this most strongly when I finally read at the Slam Legends showcase. I read three poems, only one of them was a poem I originally slammed with—“Women Writers’ Workshop.” Two of them were poems from my manuscript that will hopefully be published in 2008 and have already been published in two anthologies. I felt like the audience listened. In the cool quiet of Antone’s bar, I heard hmmm and even a gasp, eventually applause. People remembered lines, but they also talked about issues that impact them and others that they know because of the poems. This is what I had hoped my work would start and continue to do.

So, I just wanted to say thank you to the slam for giving room to many young writers who still need to read, embrace the craft and the rush of performance. The point to me, was not the points or winning. The point was welcoming people to write wherever they stand and become better conscientious writers. Moments like that reading remind me that it can happen.

--Tara Betts
NY, NY 2007

Hear Tara Betts read her poetry.

Also, after ten years of slam, you can imagine that Tara has a lot more to say on the subject. When she posts on her blog, I'll make sure to link. I am dying to hear her stories about the legendary La Resistencia Bookstore in Chicago Austin where young poets burned incense and fellowshipped with the true legends.