The Academy of Music

Academy Regional Youth Poetry Slam

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The Academy of Music Theatre presents the Third Annual Academy Regional Youth Poetry Slam on the Academy’s historic stage, where young poets perform original work for cash prizes.

Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The Academy of Music Theatre
274 Main Street, Northampton, MA

Hosted by Lyrical Faith, this is the only youth poetry slam in Western Massachusetts and promises to showcase the talented and powerful voices from the Pioneer Valley!

Nominate a Student Today!

High school educators, youth leaders, or parents/caretakers of high school-aged from Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties, nominate your students today! Check the rules, then make your nomination. Closes Dec. 13, 2024.

Click Here To Get Started

Rules and Entry

Please mark your calendars.

September 7, 2024, 10:00 AM – Discussion Forum for regional educators (in-person)
September 9, 2024, 4:00 PM ET – Virtual Info Session for regional educators on Zoom
September 9, 2024 – Applications Open
October 28, 2024 – Free Poetry Slam Workshop at the Forbes Library
November 7, 2024 – Free Poetry Slam Open Mic st the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College [RSVP NOW]
December 13, 2024 – Applications Close
January 20, 2025 – Participant Notifications
January 27, 2025 – Consent to Participate Forms must be submitted by this date.
March 3, 2025 – Public announcement of slam participants.
March 3, 2025, 5:00-8:00 PM – Mandatory participant workshop. Specific date/time TBA.
April 5, 2025, 7:00 PM – Poetry slam event.

Educators, youth leaders, or parents/guardians (recommenders) may nominate their high school-aged students online only.
Online nomination forms are available September 9, 2024 through December 13, 2024.
Nominated student participants must be from Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden County.
Recommenders are encouraged to prioritize their top 2 nominations.
Recommenders who are not the parents or caretakers of the nominated student must include the caretaker information on the nomination form.
Additional nominated poets will be placed on a waitlist.
Nominations are at the recommenders’s discretion and may be a combination of personal judgment of the poet’s skill and commitment level.
Selected poets and waitlisted poets must attend the mandatory dates of the workshop on March 3, 2025 and the Slam on April 5, 2025.
10 finalists and 3 semi-finalists will be chosen from the educator’s nominations.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners are selected at the Slam on April 5th.
Prizes are $250 for 1st place, $100 for 2nd place, and $50 for 3rd place

Poets will prepare a total of 4 poems, one poem for each of the 3 rounds, and one additional poem in case of a tie-breaker round.
Poems must be original works – of the poet’s own creation.
Memorization is not required. Poets may bring a sheet of paper, chapbook/notebook, or read off their phones or tablets.
Poets may NOT engage in sexist, racist, homophobic, or transphobic comments on or off the stage. Poets who engage in inappropriate or offensive language will be disqualified and asked to leave.
Poets may NOT use props, costumes, recorded music or sounds, or musical instruments.
Poets may sing, beatbox, or make other sounds with their bodies only.
The host will announce a general trigger warning at the beginning of the slam. Poets may also choose to announce additional trigger warnings which will count against their time.

Poets receive 3 minutes, plus a 10-second grace period to perform one poem.
Timing starts upon first interaction with the crowd.
0.5 points are deducted from scores for every 10 seconds poets go over time.

5 judges are randomly selected from the crowd at the event.
Judges will be impartial and will not know or have communication with any poet in the slam to avoid bias.
Poets will be asked if there are any conflicts of interest with the chosen judges. If poets do not speak out immediately, the slam will proceed with the chosen judges.
New judges will be selected if conflicts are voiced immediately.

The slam has 3-rounds of eliminations, with the possibility of a tie-breaker round, if needed.
Poets receive scores from 0 to 10, with decimals highly encouraged.
The highest and lowest scores are dropped. The remaining three are added together to calculate the total score not exceeding a maximum of 30 points.
0.5 points will be deducted from a poet’s score for every 10 seconds they go over time.

Free Workshop

Mon., Oct. 28, 2024
5:00-7:00 pm
Forbes Library, 20 West St. Northampton

FREE TO ATTEND
For students in grades 9-12!

RSVP Now

Open Mic

Fri, Dec 13, 2024
5:00 pm-7:00 pm
Boutelle-Day Poetry Center
Smith College, Wright Hall, Northampton

FREE TO ATTEND

RSVP Now

Poetry Slam

Sat., Apr. 5, 2025
7:00 PM
Academy of Music Theatre
274 Main St., Northampton

$10.00 admission and
free tickets available!

Learn More

Opportunities To Learn More

There are two opportunities for educators to prepare and learn about the Slam, the Academy, and how to apply. Moreover, we want to learn about your work, goals and needs to support you and your students better and expand the number of schools represented at the Slam. All educators who attend the in-person discussion forum will be entered into a raffle to win exclusive giveaways and complimentary refreshments will be provided.

In-person Discussion Forum

Saturday, September 7, 2024, 10 am
Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton, MA

FREE TO ATTEND
Raffle and Breakfast Provided

RSVP Now

Virtual Info Session

Monday, September 9, 2024, at 4:00pm
via Zoom, will be recorded

Sign Up Now

About Lyrical Faith

Lyrical Faith is a Black American Educator, Activist and Spoken Word Poet from The Bronx, NY. She has been featured at colleges, universities, and venues across the country and globally. She is the 3rd ranked Woman Poet in the World as of the 2022 Virtual Women of the World Poetry Slam, a two-time Bronx Poet Laureate finalist, a multi-time award recipient of citywide and statewide arts agencies, and the 2015 Syracuse University Poet of the Year.

She is a graduate of the Public Relations program at Syracuse University, a Masters degree recipient of the Higher Education & Student Affairs program at NYU, and a current Social Justice Education Doctoral student at UMass Amherst studying the intersections of arts and activism. Her work has been featured on NPR, Button Poetry, Write About Now Poetry, Huffington Post Black Voices, and News 12 The Bronx.