Preparation
- Teams must pay their registration fee ($150.00) by the deadline online or via cheque. See REGISTER for more info.
- Teams must have at least three members.
- Participants must be enrolled in a high school or junior high school for the year of the competition and must be in good academic standing (not on suspension or subject to other disciplinary action), even if their team is not connected to a school.
- Teams must be sponsored by a school or by a writing club, and have a teacher sponsor or club organizer present at the event in order to participate. If your school doesn't have a team and you are not part of a writing club with a team, you are welcome to join our Wild Card team by contacting us.
- Schools (and clubs that require it) are responsible for completing off-site activity approval forms and for arranging transportation of their teams to and from the event(s).
- If you register and find out later that you will not be able to attend, please notify organizers ASAP so that an alternate team on the waiting list may have the chance to participate in the slam.
- Participants must be physically present and checked in at least 30 minutes before their bouts begin. Arriving after the scheduled bout time will result in disqualification for the team.
RULES
- Each poem read must have been written by the poet reading it. For group poetry, every reader will have had to work on the poem in some capacity through contributing to the writing, editing, etc.
- All poems must be no longer than three minutes. There is a ten second grace period. After that, for every ten seconds overtime, 0.5 of a point is deducted from the total score.
- Poems are judged on a scale of 0.0-10.0 by a panel of judges.
- At the end of each round, the teams are given a set number of points based on where they place in the round. The finalists are determined based on these points.
- No props, costumes, or musical instruments are allowed. Some singing is allowed, but the whole poem should not be sung, as this is still primarily a poetry competition.
- No hate speech. Poems must be kept at an approximate PG-13 level. Swearing is technically not limited, but remember, use language wisely.
- One group poem minimum is required per round. There is no maximum.
- Teams may not perform the same poem in multiple rounds. Once a poem is used in competition, it is done. Poems used in previous CYHMN? Provincial School Poetry Slams are also not allowed.
- Individuals may only perform once per round, but may perform in group pieces multiple times in a round.
- Each team needs to have a total of at least twelve poems, with at least three of them being group poems.
- Four poems will be performed in each round of the slam. Teams are guaranteed to be able to participate in at least two rounds, with the highest-scoring teams moving onto the finals and performing an additional four poems.
- There is a minimum of three poets to a team. No maximum.
- Regarding ties:
- A possible tie can occur between a team who earns two 4th place finishes and a team that earns a 3rd and a 5th. They will likely not be advancing to the finals anyway with a total score of 18.
- Another possible tie could occur with a team that earns 2nd and 5th and another that earns two 3rd place finishes. We will figure out a tiebreaker policy, in the event that a
"playoff" spot comes down to these teams. - In the event of a tie, the team will select any of the poems they have already performed (single poet or group piece.)
- In order to avoid plagiarisms, clearly credit any sources used in a poem (including metaphors and/or four or more words borrowed from another writer.) Here are some possible ways to avoid plagiarism:
- Include a line in the poem such as, “Like Beyonce says, ...”
- Mention the source at the beginning of the performance.
- Preferred: simply write your own, without other sources!
- Executive-confirmed cases of plagiarism will result in a score of zero for the single performance. Coaches, please have a conversation with your team about this before the competition. Coaches can alert a member of The Executive Committee if they have any concerns. The Executive Committee accepts full responsibility for identifying and confirming plagiarism.
- AND THE BIGGEST RULE - HAVE FUN! This is about the poets, not the points.
FAQ
Q. For the group performance, is there a min or max of participants? Does each team member need to participate in each group poem?
A. There is no maximum or minimum number of poets for group poems (except two minimum, I guess, otherwise it's not much of a group piece), but keep in mind that for especially large groups, we may not be able to provide a separate microphone for each individual poet. And no, not all the members of your team need to participate in group poems, so it's fine if you have some team members who are only interested in doing individual pieces. Poets who participate in group pieces can also still do individual poems in the same round.
Q. Can our team perform a poem written by a student from our school who is not coming to the slam?
A. No. For group poems, all the performers have to have had a part in creating the poem. If the poem was made by, say, five kids, and only four of them can make the slam -- it's all good. But if one kid wrote the entire poem, then that poem has to be performed by that kid and no one else. If two kids made the poem, a different two can't perform it. If one kid wrote the poem, two people can't perform it. Only the writers of the poems can perform the poems.
Q. Could you clarify the group poem. Do we have to have 2 or 3 group poems ready for the competition?
A. You need one group poem per round, minimum, which means that at least three are required -- two for the two guaranteed rounds, and one in case you make the finals. However, there is no maximum amount of group poems you can perform, so if you want all four poems to be group pieces in a round, go for it!
Q. Can family members buy tickets to come and watch?
A. The Can You Here Me Now? Provincial School Poetry Slam is free to come to with a donation of a non-perishable food or some money to the food bank. There aren't any tickets. We want as big an audience as possible so, yes, bring every relative you have and every friend you know!
Q. Is there any swearing allowed in the poems? Will they be disqualified if they happen to swear under their breath or if they mess up? (Funny questions they are asking, since none of them really swear!)
A. Swearing is allowed -- there is no limit, but the judges might not take too kindly to a poem heavy on swearing or other especially coarse language. The kids won't be disqualified for swearing, but it is up to coaches to guide our young poets to use swearing judiciously. No hate speech though, and if you think a poem might be on the edge of being okay, you can send it to us and we'll have our executive team check it out. Messing up is fine -- but tell your poets to not lose composure, as the audience will have their back. It's all good. We have a very caring and supportive community!
A. There is no maximum or minimum number of poets for group poems (except two minimum, I guess, otherwise it's not much of a group piece), but keep in mind that for especially large groups, we may not be able to provide a separate microphone for each individual poet. And no, not all the members of your team need to participate in group poems, so it's fine if you have some team members who are only interested in doing individual pieces. Poets who participate in group pieces can also still do individual poems in the same round.
Q. Can our team perform a poem written by a student from our school who is not coming to the slam?
A. No. For group poems, all the performers have to have had a part in creating the poem. If the poem was made by, say, five kids, and only four of them can make the slam -- it's all good. But if one kid wrote the entire poem, then that poem has to be performed by that kid and no one else. If two kids made the poem, a different two can't perform it. If one kid wrote the poem, two people can't perform it. Only the writers of the poems can perform the poems.
Q. Could you clarify the group poem. Do we have to have 2 or 3 group poems ready for the competition?
A. You need one group poem per round, minimum, which means that at least three are required -- two for the two guaranteed rounds, and one in case you make the finals. However, there is no maximum amount of group poems you can perform, so if you want all four poems to be group pieces in a round, go for it!
Q. Can family members buy tickets to come and watch?
A. The Can You Here Me Now? Provincial School Poetry Slam is free to come to with a donation of a non-perishable food or some money to the food bank. There aren't any tickets. We want as big an audience as possible so, yes, bring every relative you have and every friend you know!
Q. Is there any swearing allowed in the poems? Will they be disqualified if they happen to swear under their breath or if they mess up? (Funny questions they are asking, since none of them really swear!)
A. Swearing is allowed -- there is no limit, but the judges might not take too kindly to a poem heavy on swearing or other especially coarse language. The kids won't be disqualified for swearing, but it is up to coaches to guide our young poets to use swearing judiciously. No hate speech though, and if you think a poem might be on the edge of being okay, you can send it to us and we'll have our executive team check it out. Messing up is fine -- but tell your poets to not lose composure, as the audience will have their back. It's all good. We have a very caring and supportive community!
