Slam Your Poetry: Write a Revolution

by Miles Merrill, Narcisa Nozica

No props. No music. No costumes. Just you, your words and a mic-you've got two minutes to make the crowd scream your name. Miles Merrill, spoken word artist and founder of Australian Poetry Slam, and award-winning teacher Narcisa Nozica will take you from novice to spoken word superstar in no time. Twenty years after Merrill introduced poetry slams to Australia, there’s a national competition with a live audience of 20 000 people, and it’s taught in schools across the country. It’s been nothing short of a revolution! With tips from stars of the Australian poetry slam scene, including bestselling author Maxine Beneba Clarke, Slam Your Poetry provides step-by-step instructions and exercises that will inspire you 1. Write a poem that pops 2. Rehearse like a winner 3. Wow your audience 4. Beat stage fright 5. Run a winning competition for your school or community group Part how-to guide, part masterclass, part manifesto, this book will help teachers, students and wannabe spoken word artists of all ages slam like a pro.

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry

336 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[Sam Schroder · Rating 4 out of 5]

In September 2018, I went to a poetry slam to watch my son perform as support feature poet. In the lead up to the night, I made the decision to throw my name in the hat and compete in the slam before his set. Little did I realise, it was a heat for the Australian Poetry Slam competition that night, and when I got great scores for my poem about books, it meant I had earned a place in the Western Sydney final of the competition the following month. I performed a new poem that night, which got me through to the second round and after my second performance, the scores declared me the winner! In November 2018, I competed as a NSW finalist, aiming to represent NSW in the national finals the following night. It wasn’t to be, but from there, I went on to compete at two different poetry slam venues regularly throughout 2019. Twice, I had the privilege of performing as support feature poet - a reward for winning a monthly slam. On top of that, my day job is a high school English teacher!
So... this book, a guide book for performance poets, teachers, writers and people keen to organise their own slam events... was a pleasure to read for me, both personally and professionally. The format and structure are really engaging and I already know I’ll be putting some dog-eared pages and my scribbled notes in the margins to good use in the classroom this year. I can’t wait to get back up in front of the microphone at my favourite slams, when we get home from our road trip. I’ve got some new material and a commitment to push some boundaries. Thanks to Merrill and Nozica, I’ve now got a really handy resource to find the poets in my classroom and school as well. If you’re interested in the process and skills of performance poetry, I highly recommend this book.

[Mariella Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good beginner's guide/textbook version. When I went to it, I was expecting more of a writing guide explaining the differences between this and other types of poetry, prompts, etc. It wasn't quite that, but it was informative on the history and on steps to becoming a slam poet/sharing of work by famous slam poets.