Midwest Poetry Slam League Guide

In 2001 Marc (So What) Smith, the creator of the poetry slam, initiated the formation of the Midwest Poetry Slam League, a loose affiliation of slams in the Midwest who travel around to each other’s venues and compete against one another for the fun of it. The format and scoring are different than the normal slams. There are one, two, three and four minute rounds as well as team pieces, props, musical accompaniment and just about anything else you can think of...

Teams:

Each team must consist of at least 3 poets. The maximum number of poets per team is 13, but no one really keeps track of that. The team members need not be members of the venue's "official" National Poetry Slam team. In fact, there are no rules governing how teams choose their poets. So far, there is no rule that says that a poet can't compete on two different teams at two different bouts, but it's probably a very bad idea.

Bouts:

Three teams compete in each bout-- At the beginning of each bout, representatives from each team will randomly draw letters to determine the order. Though, it is not unheard of to make the last team to show up at the venue be team “C”. There are six rounds in each bout, with varying time limits in each round. The time limits and order in each round break down like this:

4-Minute Round ABC
3-Minute Round BCA
3-Minute Round CAB
2-Minute Round ABC
2-Minute Round BCA
1-Minute Round CAB

NOTE: Sometimes the time limits for each round are changed, (ex. 3-4-3-2-2-1 or 4-3-2-3-2-1 etc.) however the order of the rotation (ABC-BCA etc.) remains the same.

Bout rules are based on Poetry Slam Inc. rules, with the following exceptions/additions:

Each team MUST perform AT LEAST one multi-voice piece per bout, in whatever round they choose. Each team may violate the prop/music/costume rule in any ONE round per bout. There is no score penalty for violating the time limit, but hosts are encouraged to kill the mic and yell or throw things at offending poets until they stop.

SCORING:

After each round, each poet who performed returns to the stage and each of three judges awards a score of 1, 2, or 3 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, Gold, Silver, Bronze) NOTE: Judges may not hold up the same number twice for the same round. In other words, a judge can’t give two teams 1st place in the same round. Each team is assigned a ranking at the end of each round based on how the judges voted. Example: Ann Arbor vs Kzoo vs Grand Rapids (GR)

At the end of round one the judges give the following scores:
Ann Arbor 3-1-1= 1st place
Kzoo 1-2-2= 2nd place
GR 2-3-3= 3rd place

At the end of the bout each team will have 6 rankings to add together. The lowest score wins. Example: A team that takes 1st place in all six rounds would score 6. A team that takes 3rd place in all six rounds would score 18. A NOTE ABOUT TIES: If all three teams receive 1-2-3 at the end of a round, that round is considered a tie and is thrown out. If there is a tie at the end of a bout it is up to the teams to determine how to break the tie.