In 2005, The Jambalaya Soul Slam started at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham and has been supported by the St. Joseph's Historic Foundation ever since. Each month the slam brings together the best poets in the area to compete for a cash prize and an invitation to Grand Slam Finals where the Bull City Slam Team (BCST) is picked. The Jambalaya Soul Slam also features some of the best poets from across the country each month. The Jambalaya Soul Slam has been highlighted in the News & Observer, Herald Sun, and other media as one of the area's most successful arts programs.
Click Here to donate to the Bull City Slam. All proceeds will go towards the team's expenses for participation in the National Poetry Slam.
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- The monthly slam is open to everyone 16 years or older unless the slam is designated as a slam for a particular demographic (For example; the Women of the World Poetry Slam Qualifier which is for women only). You must be 18+ to slam towards an invitation to Grand Slam Finals for an opportunity to make the Bull City Slam Team.
- Jambalaya Soul Slam is held at the Hayti Heritage Center, Durham, NC (www.hayti.org) located at 804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC 27701. *Occasionally slams are held at an alternate location (always check the website for details).
- Slams are FREE for participating poets. 12 slots are available for participating poets.
- Slams are open to the public, have an open sign up, and are not censored. The sign up list opens at 7:30pm and stays open until 8:00pm or until the list reaches 15 poets. *For the February Erotic Poetry Slam the list opens at 11:30pm.
2 slots are reserved for out of town poets. If those 2 slots are not filled, then they are made available to anyone. The first person to sign up is guaranteed participation. The other 9 slots are available for anyone. *For the February Erotic Poetry Slam the previous year's winner is guaranteed a spot so the remaining non guaranteed spots will be 8.
- If there are more than 12 poets, then the poets who will fill the 9 open slots will be selected by lottery. *Out of town means any poet from outside the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) and preference may be given to the poets who have traveled the farthest.
- The poets will draw numbers to determine the order of the first round. In the 2nd and 3rd round, the poet with the highest score will perform first and the round will end with the poet with the lowest score.
- The competition will be a 3 round slam with elimination each round. The 1st and 2nd and 3rd round scores are cumulative. The highest scoring poet wins. *Except in November and June when we have slams that are qualifiers for individual national events. Those slams follow a 4 round format with different time lengths for each round (the format used at the national competitions). The first round is a regular 3 min round. Next is a 2 min round in which no poem should be longer than 2 min. Then there will be a 1 min round which will consist of 1 min poems. Those who make the last round will have 4 min. We will cut from 12 to 6 for the 2nd and 3rd rounds and then to 3 for the last round.
- Prize money is awarded to the winner. The amount of each cash prize will be decided at the beginning of each season and will stay the same for the full season.
Bull City Slam Team Selection Process:
- Poets become eligible for the Bull City Slam team by competing in the Jambalaya Soul Slam throughout the year. We typically begin in August and the final team is selected in April of the following year.
- Grand Slam Finals, held each April, is open to the top invited poets from the season. 12 poets will be invited. Those poets will be notified of their invitation and given time to accept or refuse. It is up to the slam coordinators if any poets outside of the top 12 will be invited to fill any unaccepted slots.
- The top 4 poets at Grand Slam Finals will make the team. The top scoring poet at Grand Slam Finals will be the Grand Slam Champion for that year.
