The Sam Houston State Slam poetry team will host a series of poetry events tonight through Thursday at Fatboys. Each event begins at 9 p.m.Tonight’s event is “Don’t forget the lyrics.” It will feature an open mic hip-hop and poetry reading. Poets will also perform song lyrics. The topic of the evening will be “Is music poetry?” and prizes will be offered. On Wednesday night, Fatboys will host a live reading with Rae Shell Jenkins entitled “Poetry is my life, revenge is my mission.” Jenkins is a poet from the Houston Slam team. “It’s always good to have someone in the field perform for college students who aspire to do the same thing,” SHSU poet Grace Ekeke said.Thursday night is the Poetry Slam. In this competition, artists will memorize and perform original pieces in three minutes or less. Five people will be selected at random from the audience to be the judges for the contest. The competition consists of performance art poetry, meaning performances are judged not only on content but also on style and memorization.”With the selection of judges being random, we might get someone who knows nothing about poetry. In that case, their score will be based on the presentation and originality of the piece,” Ekeke said.The team will be looking to fill six spots on their roster at the Poetry Slam. Anyone with two original poems can try out as long as they are in good standing with the school.Last year, the Slam team beat six other schools to take first place at the regional slam at the University of North Texas. The Slam team will be competing in the Association of College Unions International’s “College Bowl” on Feb. 22 and 23. The event will take place at the University of Houston.
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