Tucson Poetry Festival™ XXI

presents

The Movie Slam: A Performance Poetry Contest with Bette Davis Eyes

MC: Gary Mex Glazner & Brandy Lintecum

Write a poem about your favorite film, come in costume, or tell us about your first hot buttered popcorn kiss.

Whatever happened to Baby Jane anyway? There will be a special prize for the best Bette Davis poem. What do you think about her eyes and other parts?

Frank O'Hara said in his poem Ave Maria: "Mothers of America/ let your kids go to the movies! /get them out of the house so they won't know what you are up to. /it's true that fresh air is good for the body/ but what about the soul/ that grows in darkness, embossed by silvery images"

Here is the challenge: bring your best poem that has something cinema at its heart, in fact bring two poems in case you make the final round.

Have you always wanted to recite a poem dressed as Humphrey Bogart, King Kong, or Marilyn Monroe?

Do you have a poem about cleaning Julia Roberts' teeth? What does Blond Bombshell mean to you? How about Poem Noir?

When you see the movie Chicago do you think, "I can tap dance and do my imitation of Marlon Brando reading my poem about exchanging ice cubes with my first boyfriend all at once, if only there were a Movie Slam."

Can you do the Tarzan yell in sonnet form?

Are you ready for your poetic close up?

Lights, Camera, Poetry Slam!

SLAM JUDGING

5 judges will be selected from the audience at random.
They give scores from 0 to 10.
The high and low scores are dropped,
making 30 the highest possible score.

SLAM RULES

Poems must be written by the performer.
Poems must be under 3 minutes in length.
0.5 point deduction for every 10 seconds over 3 minutes.
(For example: 3min 10sec - no penalty; 3min 11sec - penalty of 0.5)