The best of the verse

An online national poetry slam is aiming to draw attention to the literary form, and will see participants perform on any theme

While the slam poetry scene is booming in Mumbai, it’s not quite the same for other Indian cities. Having noticed the paucity of open mics for poetry in Chennai, Poornima Mohan along with Vidya Rajagopalan and Joel Sebastian, set out to found a poetry club of their own last year - Project Prodets. “We wanted to create a space where people could share poetry, communicate, and find a community which would also give them feedback. No one gives as much credit to poetry as the other art forms,” Mohan says.

Noted slam poet Foram Ashish Shah

As of today, approximately 300 people are part of the club. Throughout the pandemic, they have indulged in online events. But this week, the club is readying to host their first-ever nationwide poetry slam. Supported by Akshaya Rotary Club, the winner gets a prize of R5,000, while the first and second runners-up stand a chance to gain R2,500 and R1,500 respectively.

There is no theme for the competition, and it is open to all age groups. After everyone has entered the meeting, the host will introduce the club. The organisers are also trying to arrange for a guest performer. This will be followed by a briefing from the judges. There are 25 competitors so far (a maximum of 30 sign-ups will be accepted); in the prelims round, each participant gets up to three minutes to perform their piece. When a poet qualifies for the Top 10, they get a maximum of five minutes.

The competition will be judged by Foram Ashish Shah, the co-founder of Spill Poetry, one of the most popular poetry platforms in the country at the moment, and award-winning poet Husain Rasheed, the only Dastango in central India. “Feedback will be given on the spot so that participants can understand what they could have better,” Mohan says. Entries will be judged on the basis of originality, creativity, performance, usage of poetic tools and devices, and fluency. Mohan adds, “What we’re hoping for the most is creativity because in the end, that’s all what art is about.”

On: February 20, 5.30 pm
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