3-minute time limit with 10-second grace period
· A poet’s time start, and ends with their first and last interaction with the crowd. This includes nonverbal communication. A poet will not be notified when time has started, or ended. For every 10 seconds a poet goes over time, they will receive a .5 point time deduction.
No costumes, props, or music is permissible during qualifying season and grand slam.
· Since these will be individual slams, ANY outfit that bears a direct relation to a poem that is delivered, will result in disqualification. ANY direct reference to an article of clothing worn by the poet will result in disqualification. Music knowingly used by the poet will result in disqualification. Use of a prop will have the same result. Any object available to all competing poets, is not considered a prop. This will be at the discretion of the bout manager.
Poet must be the primary author of any piece performed.
· 90% of a poem used must be the work of the poet. The remaining 10% is to allot the poet use of lyrics, quotes, etc. If protested, the poet must provide a PRINTED copy of the poem to the Slam Masters within 24 hours. Failure to do so will result in disqualification from the previous slam. Direct and overt plagiarism will result in disqualification from the slam season. The Slam Masters will decide matters of primary authorship.
A poet’s score will fall between 0-30.
· Of the five judges, the highest and lowest scores will be dropped and the middle three combined for a final score.
The following rules are House Rules:
· 2 month no repeat rule. Any winning poet must wait two months before repeating poems. I.e., if a poet wins in July, the poems used may not be used again in July or August. Poets will be expected to abide by the honor system, however if this rule is broken, it will be handled on a case by case basis.
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Slam will consist of no more than 10 poets.
· A sacrifice must start every slam. The grand slam must have two or two poems by the same sacrifice.
· Each slam will have a designated bout manager, host, scorekeeper, timekeeper, and five judges randomly selected from the crowd. Judges may not have any association, beyond acquaintance, with poets competing in the slam. Knowingly doing so will result in disqualification. All judges are informed of their duties prior to the sacrificial poet. Judges may hold only that position.
· Poets will be drawn at random in qualifying slams.
· A poet forced to stop for any reason, within time limit and acceptable boundaries, will be excused and their name will be placed at the end of the rotation..
Points will be distributed to participating poets throughout the season. Season Standings will periodically be posted to keep poets abreast of where they stand. A breakdown of the point distribution will be displayed at each slam.
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The top 12 scoring poets at the end of the season will qualify for the Grand Slam. The point minimum for qualification is 60 points.
· All house rules are subject to change.
