Spoken word poets face off

Sylvester observed this year’s competition has been “really stiff”, admiring the work of new and older poets.

“The competition is stiffer and the poets better.

It is just a testament of how spoken word is growing in Trinidad and Tobago.” Sylvester, in an interview on Friday, said the poets were more professional in terms of their topics and approach.

“You can see local poets really growing and improving their craft all around.” He predicted the show will be impactful as the issues to be addressed are one which many people can relate to.

“You do not want to miss this show.” The Grand Slam, part of the 2017 NGC Bocas Lit Fest, is being held at Lord Kitchener Auditorium, National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of- Spain.

Jean-Claude Cournand, managing director/ founder of the 2 Cents Movement which organises the event, explained the competition evolved out of the Verses Poetry Slam at the University of the Southern Caribbean in 2012.

The following year, they teamed with Bocas Lit Fest and the competition became Verses Bocas. It remained Verses Bocas up to 2015, and when in 2016 First Citizens came on board as lead sponsor the competition was renamed the First Citizens National Poetry Slam. The finalists include 2014 Verses Bocas Slam winner Idrees Saleem and 2016 Courts Bocas Secondary Schools Spoken Word Intercol champion Shineque Saunders.

Cournand said this year, the sixth edition of the original slam, “looks exciting”. He reported the poets have been practising and working together, discussing ideas and concepts for poems.

However, he believes the art of spoken word still has a long way to go to establish itself.

“The competition is young and still vulnerable.

Every year is a fight and we cannot take for granted that it will carry itself.” Cournand said there are some people who do not like the idea of a competition or a poetry slam, or feel poets are just competing for the money. But in every artist in the finals, “you can see the level of work, focus and dedication they put into their craft”.

Thirty-four poems were produced for the semifinals which were narrowed down to tonight’s 13. Cournand said these pieces become part of artists’ repertoire and what they perform regularly.

Because of the competition, the poets push themselves in ways they did not even know they could and are “rewarded justly.” Some poets have been able to earn enough money to continue their art and work.

He pointed out that after Sylvester won last year, he was able to perform at a number of places.

Cournand gave the analogy of the Soca Monarch competition pointing out that many soca artistes would not have achieved prominence without that structure in place. He explained the slam is a strategic and important developmental tool, though not the only one.

He said there are other tools such as open mike sessions, performing in schools and paid gigs.

Cournand stressed that competition is not the “highest mode of existence” but it allows artists to ask themselves how can they better their craft and how do people perceive their work.

The $50,000 prize, more than double of last year’s $20,000, is the largest in the Caribbean and Latin America, and one of the largest in the world. He reported he has not found a slam with a larger prize; he found a poetry slam in Australia with a cash prize of US$5000 or more than TT $30,000.

The prize was appropriate for what spoken word means in this country especially with a rich oral tradition and heritage. TT , he noted, has a high number of spoken word artists per capita while in the United States it is still an underground, niche art.

“In Trinidad and Tobago it is beginning to carry a certain respect,” he added.

Cournand said the competition should be a premiere international event. On the growth of the competition, he said the show was of a high standard which attracted First Citizens to invest in it.

“People who come are impressed. We carving out a market out of almost nothing.” He said people could be “part of the bandwagon” later on or be a part now when spoken word is budding and emerging.

Cournand predicted spoken word would become mainstream, but it was fun to be part of the early stages, similar to being a part of calypso when it was still growing.

“Part of a moment of history in art,” he added.

The show starts at 5.15 pm and will include a tassa band, riddim section, DJ, a tribute to late Nobel Laureate Sir Derek Walcott and guest artistes.