The phenomenon of spoken word is relatively unheard of in Canada, but you wouldn’t know it if you’d ventured out to the Trane Studio last Thursday night. The first night of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW) drew such a large audience that people were being turned away at the door.
Now in its third year, the CFSW championships, representing the best of Canadian spoken word poets, ran from October 11-14. The young crowd, fueled by alcohol and genuine enthusiasm for the art of spoken word, kept the place buzzing all night, as they awarded the competitors, who ranged in age from 17 to 42, with raucous applause, cheers, and laughter. Loud boos were reserved for any judge daring to grant a score below 9.0 out of 10.
The event might not seem to merit such excitement, but slam poetry is not ordinary verse. Using only their bodies and their voices (props are strictly forbidden) performers are given three minutes and 10 seconds to out-perform fellow competitors. This means incorporating creative movements, sound effects and melodies into their pieces. Some people performed in pairs, melding voices together to create unusual effects. Others just spoke as fast and articulately as possible. Performing in a slam means having a good sense of the audience and coming prepared with a variety of pieces. Judging from the performances that night, it also means having a total lack of inhibition, whether one is divulging intensely personal experiences or graphically condemning a man’s lack of bathroom etiquette.
Because spoken word weighs content and performance equally, the effect is twofold. Trite or standard topics can be revitalized by an original take and impassioned delivery. Krystle Mullin of Toronto recently experienced the breakup of a long-term relationship, which figured largely into her piece on heartbreak. Her vivid language, understandable pain, and closing note of empowerment made her performance emotional without being clichéd. Nevertheless, with so many people determined to be as provocative or controversial as possible, the novelty wears thin. There are only so many feminist rants and nonsensical ramblings I could take before they all started to sound the same.
The finals were held at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on Saturday the 14, and saw Vancouver win for the third year in a row. Two Toronto teams placed second and third, and Ottawa came in last place.
Since its establishment in 2003, the CFSW has only grown in popularity. Other events held to promote spoken word included open mics, workshops, and public performances. Spoken word action continues throughout the year, such as CFSW publicity manager David Silverberg’s monthly poetry slams.
I was initially wary of such events-in poetry, meaninglessness and obscurity is too often confused with depth. However, something about the performance dimension that helped hide this problem: it wasn’t until later that I realized some pieces made no sense. Maybe it was the energy and warmth of the crowd, or the intriguing combination of drama and poetry, but at least for that night, it was hard not to get caught up in the world of spoken word.
