Many people criticize slam poetry as not being real poetry. It's been called rap, shouted lectures etc.
So what are your views on slam poetry? Do you consider it real poetry or just a watered down, less talented form of poetry.

No one gives a shit what trite garbage you write here.

Quote from secretdesires

Many people criticize slam poetry as not being real poetry. It's been called rap, shouted lectures etc.
So what are your views on slam poetry? Do you consider it real poetry or just a watered down, less talented form of poetry.

It's poetry, if we're talking about poems written explicitly for poetry slams. Just generally not good poetry, unless for some reason you're under the impression that Yeats, Bunin, Baudelaire, Hagiwara, Borges and dozens upon dozens of others were mistaken in their choice to not be performance artists.

[img]http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt122/Wthuh/CrenshiSig.jpg[/img]
Reviews of my Work:
You are kind of boring - Blackorion
Congratulations! Ur an asshole! - tokyo_homi
**Your awesome!!! **- Cherelle_Ashley
NightSwan also said that she wanted to peg me, once, but I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or a threat...

I disagree. I write written poetry myself (1 year left in my BA of Creative Writing, if that's at all relevant), rather than performance poetry, but slam poetry is an equally valid art form. It is received aurally, rather than by sight, which has certain implications for the form. It is simply different rather than inferior to the written form.

Sure, not all slam poetry is going to be great, but neither is all written poetry. That's the fault of the artist, not the art form. Poetry, and art in general, evolves and finds new ways of expression. That's natural. How do you think free verse poetry, the most popular poetic form currently, came about?

For example, several years ago I got to see Brendan McLeod perform and I quite enjoyed it. And he has a talent for the written word as well as the spoken word, having won the 2006 International Three Day Novel Contest and subsequently having his entry published.

[url]http://www.brendanmcleod.ca/[/url]

Less classy than written,
but a good performer can always
amplify the text. Though I am not a fan
of slam poetry. I prefer songs if I want
to hear the sound of the text.