On November 7th at 6:30 pm Options High School hosted the 13th Annual Poetry Slam. The Poetry Slam is a very inspiring event where students can share their creativity through their writing. Jovan Mays, a very popular Poet Laureate from Aurora, has been the host of the Poetry Slam since its beginning. Littleton Public Schools and the LPS Foundation hosted the event, as they do every year.
As every student went up to share their unique perspectives on life and their experiences, the audience sat in awe, listening to every word each student had to say.
As I had never been to the Poetry Slam before, or any Poetry reading, I had no idea what to expect going in. After listening to the many very impressive students, I have a lot to say about the event altogether.
First of all, the original poetry slam was started by Marc Smith, from Chicago, as a way for a community to share ideas otherwise not shared out loud. Many famous poets are successful because of the poetry slam movement. When asked about the Poetry Slam, Mays said, “its been a beautiful thing for these voices to have a space to share to the masses.”
The 13th Annual Poetry Slam hosted by the LPS foundation and run by Jovan Mays had a total of 13 poets in the first round. After each poet preformed their poems there was a short intermission while the judges ranked the poems. The next round had 5 poets compete, and one extra as a sacrificial poet. The scoring was based off the score from both rounds, and based off a poem for an audience member at the start.
Even though the crowd was smaller than I had expected, Jovan Mays, the host of the event, brought the energy the poetry slam needed. There was also a sound board running, and some hype music playing in between the poems.
The poets did a great job in their unique performances. Most of the students preforming in the Poetry Slam were from Littleton, however there were some people from Arapahoe, and for the first time ever, someone came from Voyager. Each poet delivered a very detailed and strong poem, with topics ranging from global warming to discrimination.
The finalists for the second round were:
Sacrificial: Dakota H (Voyager)
- Briana S (Arapahoe)
- Caroline M (Littleton)
- Kooper G (Littleton)
- Vinny A (Littleton)
- Evyn G (Arapahoe)
After scoring up the points, the winners of the 13th Annual Poetry Slam were (starting from 1st place to 5th place)
- Kooper G (Littleton)
- Caroline M (Littleton)
- Evyn G (Arapahoe)
- Briana S (Arapahoe)
- Vinny A (Littleton)
Overall, the Poetry Slam was a very impressive event I believe more people should attend. Jovan Mays and all the other poets at the event did a great job performing. I enjoyed listening to all the unique stories everyone had to say. If you are interested in poetry, this event is a great place to learn about poetry and meet new people.
