Poetry Slam: Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival

NOTE--This info is about the 2008 event. 2009 info will be posted in March, after regular registration has closed! WHAT: "Valley International Poetry Festival: Youth Slam and Adult Slam!
WHEN: Friday, April 24, 2009
WHERE: South Texas College (Pecan Campus)Cooper Center Auditorium
ADDRESS: 3201 Pecan Blvd. (corner of Pecan and 29th St.) McAllen, TX
TIME: Youth Slam: 6 -- 7 p.m.
Competition will begin after rules are explained, etc., at 6:15 p.m.

Adult Slam: 9:40 -- 11:00 p.m.
FYI: All events will be free and open to the public. Books, Chapbooks, CDs, T-shirts, etc., for sale.
Contact: Daniel García Ordaz, Founder, @ 956-358-7211

SEE SLAM RULES BELOW

Here's the rest of the schedule on campus that same night:

Youth Poetry Slam Contest (McAllen)
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
South Texas College (Pecan Campus--McAllen) Cooper Center Auditorium
Note: Recitation contest open to high school students; 6—6:15 register to compete.
Slam Rules: below

UT-Pan American Student and Faculty Readings
7:10 – 8:10 p.m.
South Texas College (Pecan Campus--McAllen) Cooper Center Auditorium Musical Performance by Pulse
8:10 – 8:30 p.m.
South Texas College (Pecan Campus--McAllen) Cooper Center Auditorium

South Texas College Student and Faculty Readings
8:30 – 9:30 p.m.
South Texas College (Pecan Campus--McAllen) Cooper Center Auditorium

Adult Poetry Slam
9:40 – 11:00 p.m.
South Texas College (Pecan Campus--McAllen) Cooper Center Auditorium
Note: Recitation contest open to registered poets only. Slam Rules: below.

Rules:

1. Competitors must be present on stage exactly at 9:30 p.m. (Adults) for final sign-in in order to compete.

Competitors will be posing for a group photo onstage before the slam, so be ready.
2. Competitors will be drawing numbers to choose the reading order.
3. Depending on the amount of poets competing, competitors should be prepared to read three to four poems. All poems must be original--written by the contestant. Poets may read one poem twice--in other words, they may repeat one of their poems--at any time during the competition. So poets should have at least two unique poems ready.
4. Everyone will read during round one. Each round at least one person and up to five poets may be eliminated.
5. Poets with the lowest scores are out. This will continue until only two poets are left onstage. They will flip a coin to determine the order of reading. The person with the highest cumulative scores will call heads or tails.
6. Each poet has three minutes to read. The time starts when the poet starts to speak. (If you have to start again, you may, but the clock starts when you start the first time.) No props. No costumes. No music.
7. Poets going over the three-minute mark, plus a ten-second grace period--will be docked one point from their score for every ten seconds over three minutes.
8. An odd number of judges will be selected at random from the audience by the M.C., or head judge. Each judge will score poems on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. The highest and lowest scores may be thrown out.
9. Scores will be cumulative, except in the final, or championship round. In that round, it's a one-shot deal; everyone starts with zero.
10. The festival founders, or their designee, are/is the final judge(s).

ALL EVENTS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (unless otherwise noted)

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