Tongues of Fire Poetry Slams offer poets a chance to compete to represent Victoria at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam (CIPS), which takes place each April as part of the Verses Festival of Words in Vancouver, BC.

Format

Poetry slams (including Finals) will be 2-round slams, with a time limit of 3-minutes in each round. 8 poets may compete in each slam. In the event that more than 8 poets sign up to compete in the slam, a random draw will determine who competes that night.

In each round, poems will receive scores from a slate of “random judges” selected by the Slam Host and/or Events Coordinator. (See section on “Judging” below.) For each poem, poets will receive a score out of 30. Scores are NOT cumulative: every round will begin with a blank slate.

Round            Time Limit                                                       Notes
1                     3 minutes (+ 10 second grace period)           4 highest-scoring poets advance to round 2
2                     3 minutes (+10 second grace period)            3 highest-scoring poets receive prizes

A random draw will determine the order of poets in round 1. The order of performance in round 2 will be the opposite of that in round 1. There will be a “sacrificial” poet before round 1 ONLY.

The top 3 poets in the second round will receive prizes. The 1st place prize will be a $30 gift card from Caffe Fantastico. The 2nd place prize will be a $20 gift card from Munro’s Books. The 3rd place prize will be a $10 gift card from The Papery.

Qualifying for Slam Finals

Every 3rd Thursday Tongues of Fire from September to March give poets opportunities to qualify for the SLAM FINALS on Friday, March 21, 2025. The four highest-scoring poets at the end of the second round in 3rd Thursday slams will receive points towards qualification, as follows:

1st Place               5 points
2nd Place             3 points
3rd Place              2 points
4th Place              1 point

Based on accumulated points, the top 8 poets in the season standings after the March 20th slam will be qualified for the Slam Finals on Friday March 21, 2025.

The March 20th poetry slam will be a “LAST CHANCE SLAM.” For this slam, any poets whose accumulated point total from the previous five months guarantees qualification for Slam Finals will not be allowed to compete. Although unlikely, sign up for this slam may similarly be restricted to only those poets who have an opportunity to qualify for Finals. (For example, if the minimum points total to qualify for finals is 6 points, poets who have not qualified for the 3rd round of any previous slam would be ineligible to compete on the basis that they could not qualify for Finals, even if they won 1st place.)

Slam Rules

Slam rules have been formulated in the spirit of fair play, with the intention of creating a level playing field between competing poets as much as possible. The rules are enforced at the discretion of the Events Coordinator and/or Slam Host on any given evening. Enforcement is not undertaken lightly and only in cases where a rules violation is obvious or deemed to have unduly enhanced a poem’s score. Competing poets are discouraged from scrutinizing other poets’ performances for potential rules violations. If poets believe there has been a rules violation, they should bring this to the attention of the Events Coordinator without disrupting the event.

1. Original Work: Each poet must only perform original work of their own creation.
Exception:
Poets may incorporate, imitate or otherwise signify on the words, lyrics or tune of someone else’s creation (commonly called “sampling”) in their own work.
Penalty:
Disqualification. A poet may also be retroactively disqualified if identified as having engaged in plagiarism, in which case any points earned towards Finals from the event in question will be taken away.

2. No “Team Pieces”:* Tongues of Fire poetry slams are solo competitions. Poets should be the singular author of the poems they perform and may not involve additional performers in the delivery of any work.
Exceptions:
General participation of the audience through either spontaneous accompaniment or call-and-response are not considered a violation of this rule. At the discretion of the Events Coordinator and/or slam host, poets may be allowed to use a surrogate reader or have an additional person join them. (See the note on “Accessibility-related Exceptions to the No Team Piece Rule” below.)
Penalty:
Minus 2 points from poem score.

3. No Props/Costumes/Animal Acts: Poets are not to incorporate objects or articles of clothing into the delivery of their poems in such a way as to enhance the performance. Poets are not to be accompanied on stage by live animals.
Exceptions:
Props – Poets may use objects within the given environment – ie. microphones, mic stands, chairs on stage, etc. – so long as they are available to all other competitors and are not the personal property of an individual brought into the space for the purpose of being used as props.
Costumes – Poets may make verbal reference to articles of clothing that may wear everyday – ie. hijabs, turbans, shoes, etc. – but should be careful not to directly indicate the article through touch or pointing.
Support Animals – Certified support animals are allowed to accompany a poet on stage; however, poets should refrain from performing poems of which their support animal is the primary subject.
Penalty:
Minus 2 points from poem score.

4. No Musical Accompaniment: Poets may not perform with musical instruments or pre-recorded music.
Exception:
Poets may use their own body to create rhythm or percussive accompaniment.
Penalty:
Minus 2 points from poem score.

5. No Nudity: Poets may not disrobe
Penalty:
Disqualification.

6. Time Limits: Poets should complete the performance of their poem within the specific time limit for a given round of competition. A “grace period” of no less than 10 seconds in addition to the specific time limit is afforded each poet. The timekeeper will begin a poet’s time at the moment a poet is deemed to have engaged the audience. Engaging the audience may include any form of speaking into the microphone, but also clear and obvious physical gestures intended to elicit a response from the general audience. Generally, the timekeeper will be discouraged from
Penalty:
A poet will have 0.5 points deducted from the poem’s score for each 10 seconds by which they exceed the time limit and grace period, measured to the hundredth of a second. For example, a poet will receive a 0.5-point deduction if their time is between 3:10:01 and 3:20:00; a 1.0-point deduction if their time is between 3:20:01 and 3:30:00; a 1.5-point deduction if their time is between 3:30:01 and 3:40:00; and so on. Once announced, time penalties may NOT be disputed.

NOTE: The host may choose to end a poet’s performance if it exceeds 5 minutes. A poet refusing to leave the stage when so-requested will be disqualified.

Judging

Judging is intentionally random. Competing poets should understand that poetry slam is NOT intended to identify and reward technical qualities, but rather, a fun way of creating a more engaging poetry event. We say “The point is not the points, the point is the poetry!” and we mean it! (We also like to say, “The best poet never wins,” because, well, how can anyone actually say who the best poet is? Again, numbers on art – it’s ridiculous.)

Judges are selected from individuals or groups of people in the audience who are willing to judge and don’t have any obvious connection to competing poets that might prejudice them. No fewer than 3 and no more than 5 judges will be selected in advance of the beginning of each poetry slam. In the event that enough “random” judges can’t be found, volunteers or long-time community members who can be trusted to judge fairly may be selected, at the discretion of the Slam Host and/or Events Coordinator.

To the degree that it’s possible, efforts will be made to select judges who will conduct themselves without bias towards one poet or a group of poets on the basis of personal relations or identity.

In the event that a judge or group of judges leaves during the slam, the Slam Host will request that another individual or group of people assumes their place.

Scoring

The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest or “perfect” score. Judges may use a single decimal point to differentiate between poets (ie. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, etc.). In the event that a judge refuses to give a score, their score will be registered as a 0.

In the event that there are 3 judges, every score given will count. In the event that there are 5 judges, the highest and lowest scores for each poem will be dropped, and only the three middle scores will count.

The “Sacrificial” poet will be a poet who competes before the start of a round (where designated to do so) in order for the judges to have a chance to practice giving scores. This poet is not part of the competition.

Since the Slam Host must keep the show running on time, judges will generally receive a minimal amount of time following a poem in order to choose and present their score. Judges may be given slightly longer to choose their score early in the event, or earlier in a round, and less time as the round proceeds.

*Accessibility-related Exceptions to the No Team Pieces Rule.

A poet who is non-verbal due to a permanent or long-term disability is allowed to have someone else read their poem for them. The poet will be required to be on stage during the performance (and can ‘perform’ in any manner they wish while the poem is being read). The person reading the poem should limit their performance to simply reading the poem (as opposed to adding any extra physical performance).

A poet with extreme anxiety that might prevent them from taking the stage may be allowed to have one person accompany them on stage to provide emotional support. The poet will still be required to perform their own poem. The person accompanying them should limit their involvement to merely standing alongside and/or maintaining comforting physical contact (such as hand-holding).

NOTE:

• VPP asks that non-verbal poets who choose to compete throughout the season remain consistent with who they choose to read their work on their behalf by using the same person to read their work. We will do everything we can to ensure our space is as accessible as possible.
• In the event that a non-verbal or accompanied poet qualifies as the CIPS representative, VPP cannot guarantee that the tournament director(s) will allow the poet to compete with someone else reading their work or accompanying them on stage. VPP will advocate on behalf of the qualified poet in that event, but does not have authority over the rules of CIPS as they relate to eligibility.