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on bigger prizes offered for slamming -
one competing poet's view
filed 15 October 2004 | Chicago an interview with Samaiya Ewing by Kurt Heintz
In what slams did you compete that offered the large prize money?
The two big money slams I’ve competed in were both Black Pride Poetry Slams held in July during Black Pride Month, the most recent being this past July 2, 2004. CeCe Carter was the MC in both situations, both slams were sponsored (primarily) by the Northern Trust Bank.
What was the top prize? How did you place and what did you win?
The top prize in the first Black Pride Slam I competed in was advertised (prior to and during the slam) as $1,000. However during both slams, the prize was increased, to $1,500 in the first slam, and $1,250 in the more recent slam. In the first slam, I placed third and won $450, with the second and third place prize money having been increased along with first. This past summer I placed second and received $500. The second and third prizes were not increased with first this year.
Was the large prize money much of an incentive to you?
The prize money was the only incentive for me.
So, what kind of difference in your life would that kind of prize make?
I’m a student who is only sporadically employed, so a thousand or fifteen hundred dollars would pay my rent for a few months, pay for classes, books, lights, food, transportation, that much money could make my life quite a bit easier for a significant amount of time.
Are rules a greater concern where the prize money is bigger? Do you feel that people are more likely to hedge on the rules because of the stakes?
For myself the rules are always a great concern, more so when there is a significant amount of money involved. While I am always interested in playing by the rules, I’m far more likely to insist upon it when there is a great deal of money at stake, as opposed to, say, a weekly ten dollar slam at a local poetry joint. As for others, it has been my experience, however limited that may be, that the importance of the rules don’t increase or decrease in level of importance in big money slams.
Did you compete in this slam any differently than you would for another slam?Did the size of the prize affect any of your strategies, the selection of your text or quality of your performance?
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I perform best under pressure, and I do not believe there is a greater pressure than having your well being for the next few months on the line. |
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I find that this detachment can be off putting to the other competitors and serves a dual purpose, first it keeps them away from me. It leaves me to focus on what I’m doing. Second, it distracts them from their purpose; they’re generally too busy trying to figure out what my problem is to focus on the task at hand. Too, I perform best under pressure, and I do not believe there is a greater pressure than having your well being for the next few months on the line. As for the work I select, I walk in the door with no fewer than nine pieces, what I do depends on the location, the audience, what the poet before me does, what the poet after me is likely to do, (something you can generally find out by simply asking them, apparently not everyone is as focused as I am) and what the judges are responding to, not necessarily in that order.
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