The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Society proudly presents Travellin’ Slam Poetry on Friday, February 15th at 8:00PM at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre.

Travellin’ Slam Poetry offers an intensely competitive take on poetry in which three award-winning slam poets compete for top honours in an audience judged event filled with boisterous cheers, high fives, and lots of great poetry. The line-up will include any three of Zaccheus Jackson, Julie Peters, Lucia Misch, Chris Gilpin, Kelsey Savage, RC Weslowski, or Jillian Christmas.

The poets are passionate, engaging and have something to say. Between them, they have won everything from the World Slam runner-up to the Vancouver CBC Poetry Face-off, not mention the Vancouver Woman of the World Slam or the Vancouver Haiku Death Match.

The poets perform their own short works without any props, costumes or musical instruments. The poems are then judged on a scale from zero to ten by five judges selected from the audience. “What you’re seeing is a high octane, high energy mix of three performers doing various kinds of exciting poetry” says the show’s host Brendan McLeod. “Because scores are judged by the audience, performers bring a very dynamic range of performance to the pieces”

The show’s competitive format is further enhanced by the audience, who are encouraged to influence the judges by showing their approval or disapproval of the judges’ scores. “If the poem is good and the judges rate it too low, the audience is encouraged to boo the judges in a friendly manner, and to cheer if they approve of the judges scores” explains McLeod, “It’s very interactive because the performers feed off the energy of the crowd”.

With a high energy atmosphere and an emphasis on competition, Travellin’ Slam Poetry provides an enjoyable and unforgettable evening of poetry, cheers and jeers. “Poetry lovers enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun” adds McLeod. “Even if you don’t like poetry, it’s a great event to come to.”

The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support: 1 & 2 Electric, Village Green Hotel, 105.7 SUN FM, the Vernon Morning Star, the Okanagan Advertiser, North of 50 Magazine, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Vernon Winter Carnival.

Poetry as a competitive sport? Hosted by the Fugitives’ Brendan McLeod, three poets compete for top honours in an event replete with student judges, boisterous cheers, disapproving boos, high-fives, and lots of great poetry. Drawing from a host of performers who, between them, have won everything from the World Slam runner-up to the Vancouver CBC Poetry Face-off, not mention the Vancouver Woman of the World Slam or the Vancouver Haiku Death match, the line-up will include any three of Zaccheus Jackson, Julie Peters, Lucia Misch, Chris Gilpin, Kelsey Savage, RC Weslowski, or Jillian Christmas.