LITTLE ROCK — Words were flying everywhere last weekend at The Poet's Loft in Hot Springs.
The Loft, which is run by Pam Rawls and Mary Gray, was the scene of the 2007 Arkansas Grand Slam of poetry.
A record 26 poets, including 10 from Arkansas, showed off their lyrical skills at the 10th annual Grand Slam.
Nitche Ward of Denver, who goes by the stage name The Original Woman, won the $1,000 first prize, marking the first time the event has been won by a woman.
Another first was an Arkansan advancing to the third tier of the final round to finish in the top five. That honor went to Kim Marshall, a.k.a.Krysis, of Little Rock.
The format for the slam, as explained by Marshall, was for each round, each poet was given three minutes to recite an original work with a 10-second grace period. No props or costumes are allowed. Five judges were pulled from the crowd randomly and judged the poems on a 0-10 scale. If a poet went over the 10-second grace period, they were penalized 0.5 points for each 10 seconds they were over. The highest and lowest scores were thrown out of each round, and the remaining three scores were tallied.
In the three tiers of the final round, Ward had a perfect score to win the competition.
Marshall said the Grand Slam, in addition to other local slams around the state, has breathed life into the poetry community and helped attractpeople who knew very little about poetry before attending the slam.
"It shows them poetry readings aren't just about some dead white guy," Marshall said. "It gives them something contemporary and something they can relate to."
Marshall said she enjoys performing her poems because it adds an element that isn't there when a poem is published in a book or periodical.
"When it's on the page, it's absolutely what the reader interprets from the text. When I'm reading the poem, I'm able to translate some of the passion from the poem to the audience," she said.
Rawls said the Arkansas Grand Slam is the "only slam in the world who's ever paid the poets toperform."
While there is a $50 entry fee, Rawls gave the fee back to each contestant if they didn't win it back in prize money.
"A lot of other slams make money off the poets, which I think is a crying shame," Rawls said.
"It's like asking musicians to play for free."
Rawls and Gray work hard to cultivate the poetry scene in Hot Springs, with poetry performances every Wednesday night.
"We haven't missed a Wednesday night in 18 years," Rawls said.
The performances feature both local and out-of-town talent and are followed by an acoustic music jam.
Rawls, who calls herself "the loftkeeper," said the loft also has a cultural dance team and puts on a couple of dramatic performances each year.
"It's busy for the lofties," Rawls said.
Next year's Arkansas Grand Slam will be held the first weekend in November, Rawls said.
More information is available by visiting www.thepoetsloft.com.
- jlemaster@ arkansasonline.com
Tri-Lakes, Pages 59, 67 on 10/11/2007