On Sept. 10 all eyes from the Canadian artistic community will focus on Guelph as it hosts a $5,000 performance poetry competition: the Ontario International Poetry Slam (OIPS).
With one of the most lucrative cash purses in poetry slam competition history, OIPS has attracted dozens of world-class performance poets from across Canada, the United States, and even the Bahamas to share their art and the thrill of competition.
Many poets from Ontario will take the River Run Centre stage, engaging in a performance poetry battle with artists representing cities as diverse as Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor, New York, Columbus, Rochester, Chapleau, and more.
Guelph Spoken Word, the not-for-profit arts organisation hosting OIPS, is sponsoring the preliminary elimination rounds of the competition.
The 1 and 3:30pm poetry slams will be free for attendees.
“Performance Poetry is an amazing art form, though as a newer concept to Canada many people have never seen it,” said Guelph Spoken Word founder, Beth Anne Ellipsis. “It is not like high school poetry class – it’s entertaining. Especially when performed in a competition like OIPS. We have sponsored the elimination bouts to increase community accessibility to this provocative artistic event.”
Poetry slams were created to transform poetry from static readings for the artistic elite into stunning, interactive, dynamic, and competitive performances.
Only original writing can be performed and no props or musical accompaniments are allowed; for three minutes, it’s just the poet, their poem, and an audience.
Members of the audience are selected to be judges at the slam, assigning each poetry performance a score from 0 to 10.
Elimination rounds run during the afternoon, with the top-scoring poets advancing to the 8:00pm final competition bout.
Here, the best-of-the-best poets compete in a three-round format for a chance to win a share of the $5,000 prize pool.
Tickets to the finals are $25, available in limited quantities at the door and from the River Run Centre box office in advance.
“The return of this massive event is an amazing opportunity to bolster Guelph’s reputation as a world-leading supporter of art and performance poetry excellence,” said OIPS creative director Mark MacKinnon. “We are thrilled to present so much talent in such an intense single-day event.”
For additional details about the Ontario International Poetry Slam, and to purchase tickets, visit www.oips.ca.
