Poetry slams at Starbucks

Union Board will prove poetry can come alive from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight at the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery near Starbucks with its OUTSPOKEN Poetry Slam. \nContestants can sign up before the show to perform their poetry to try and win one of three prizes. It’s free to enter and open to all. \n“We want to have a coffee shop kind of atmosphere,” said Union Board performing arts director Alexa Lopez, adding that any and all audience participation is welcome. “Boos and clapping and all that – whatever people feel.” \nThe show will begin with open-mic segment for anyone who wants to perform. \n“They can get up and perform a song, if they want,” Lopez, a sophomore, said, adding that any acts are welcome.\nAt 8 p.m., five judges will be randomly selected from the audience. Contestants will perform for three minutes and will be docked if they go over the limit. The highest and lowest scores for each competitor will be dropped and the median three averaged. After three rounds, the highest scorers will be announced. \nThe prize for first place will be a $50 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, said senior Chris Impicciche, the poetry coordinator for the Collins Living-Learning Center, who helped organize the event. The second-place prize will be poetry books, a Moleskine notebook and magnetic poetry, while the third will be a DVD of Def Poetry.\nImpicciche said performing in a slam has a different dynamic than simply writing.\n“You have to be able to get something out of it the first time you hear it,” he said. “If you perform well, it doesn’t matter if your poetry sucks.” \nImpicciche said the organizers hope to make poetry more accessible to the public. \n“This is an event for people who don’t like poetry,” he said.\nEnglish professor Dana Anderson will host the event and will offer extra credit to any of his students who perform an original composition. \n“He’s so enthusiastic,” Lopez said of Anderson. “He definitely has the personality to emcee it.”\nHowever, the audience may not see too much of Anderson.\n“I’m going to try to talk as little as possible so I can hear other people talk,” Anderson said.\nAnderson’s love of poetry is well-known among his students and colleagues, he said.\n“There’s a little bit of a poet in everybody ... in places you don’t think to look,” he said.