Slam down the poetry

By Bela Antonio

On Feb. 27 Phog Lounge hosted a Poetry Slam, featuring a Detroit poet.  

The Windsor Poetry Slam holds this event every fourth Tuesday at Phog Lounge. The show starts with an open mic where anyone can go up and say a piece. After the open mic portion, the competition begins. This event started at Phog in 2015 and has continued to grow.

Erik Johnson, a local poet and lyricist, thinks that poetry slam is a great way to influence upcoming poets.

“Being able to influence other poets and inspire other upcoming poets as well, just like the way I was inspired by the poets here at Windsor Poetry Slam,” said Johnson.

Deonte Osayande, a poet and a professor from Detroit, Michigan showed up to perform his pieces for the slam.  

“I believe poetry slam is important because people need to ventthose emotions but also need to share among their peers, like-minded folks,” said Osayande.  

Poetry slams are competitions where poets come together to compete by performing some of their original poems. The founder of slam poetry, Marc Smith, started this type of performance in Chicago in 1984.

Danielle Nguyen, a third year University of Windsor biochemistry student, says she feels that poetry slam keeps arts culture alive in the community.

“I think poetry slam is important in the sense that it keeps the art culture alive in the community where STEM programs and skills are becoming more prominent,” said Nguyen.

 According to Nguyen, this also gives people a chance to be creative with how they share their stories.

The Windsor Poetry Slam will hold another poetry slam on March 27th at 8 p.m. at the Phog lounge.