Poetry Slam Registration

In collaboration with Indigeverse, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and TCJ Student are pleased to announce the 2022 Virtual Poetry Slam! The Poetry Slam to promote free individual expression and showcase literary talent and skills and provide an incentive for greater literary talent and skill.

Virtual Poetry Slam Rules

1. This event will take place via Zoom. There are no restrictions on how students deliver their poem, what they say, or the overall subject matter. However, no props or musical instruments are permitted.

2. Each poet has three (3) minutes to introduce and deliver their poem.

3. Poets will say their name, tribal college, and title of their poem CLEARLY for the judges before every recitation.

4. One (1) poem per round. Poets may not deliver the same poem again. If they advance to the next round, they must deliver a new poem.

5. The Master of Ceremonies (MC) will introduce competing poets, enforce the rules, organize the judges, and entertain the audience between rounds.

6. The panel of judges will rate each poem autonomously.

7. Scoring will be based on a scale of zero to ten (0-10), with zero (0) being the lowest score and ten (10) being the highest score obtainable. Judges may use decimal points in their score. After each poet, the judges will write down their score. Once a round concludes, the judges will confer via text messaging, determining the top poets who will advance to the next round. The MC will read the names of the top poets after she/he receives the results via text messaging from the judges.

8. The Virtual Poetry Slam is open to a maximum of 30 participants—first come, first serve.

9. There are four (4) rounds in the Poetry Slam. Up to thirty-seven (37) poets, one for each college or university, are allowed to enter in the first round, but the judges will only select the eight (8) best poets to advance to the second round. After the second round, the four (4) best poets advance. After the third round, the top two (2) poets compete for AIHEC Slam Poet Laureate honors.

10. Participants give the Tribal College Journal, Indigeverse, and partners the right and permission to use photographs and/or video recordings of them during the event on other websites and in publications, promotional flyers, educational materials, derivative works, or for any other similar purpose.

*Registration form for poets only