(from Krystle Mullin, representing Toronto Poetry Slam @ Women of the World Poetry Slam, in Detroit. Here’s the first entry of her daily diary)

Day 1

The Toronto car, made up of Lara B. Tanya N. Dilly M. and Krystle M. (Truth Is… was already in town) rolled into Detroit early afternoon yesterday. But not without some unscheduled mishaps. One of which included being held up at the border for an unprecedented amount of time. The car in front of ours in the line up was ambushed by about 15 officers who had their guns and tasters pulled. They made the man who was driving step out, walk backwards towards them and then handcuffed him. Made his wife do the same. Oh, right, the couple was probably in their 60’s. This is not a joke. We were also pulled over because Lara’s last name isn’t Jones and had to wait in a sketchy waiting room where Tanya made friends with a 2 year old and a Queen’s alumni who had just been fired by Ford. On our escape from the border we saw the elderly couple getting back into their red mini van. I think probably that guy had stolen some tic tacs back in the 50’s when he was 10 years old and it showed up on his record.

We made it to the host hotel, got registered and pulled our spots. Lara pulled the first bout and i pulled the 2nd (there were 3 venues hosting 2 bouts each. Lots of women. 72 to be exact!). We then met up with Kimiko who is with her whole family (so cute!).

We found some food. We ordered our dishes to be medium in spiciness and by the end of the meal we were all red eyed and sniffing. Lesson : Medium Spicy is actually ‘holy bleep’ and that level of spicy is not great before performing at the Women of the World Slam.
Fast forward to the bouts. Audience members were few and far between. Which meant judges were even harder to come by. some of the hosts actually had to ask WOW volunteers to judge which some poets weren’t that comfortable with. Lara rocked the 1 min round and the 4 min round as did Truth Is… however, rumour has it that the judges were not very consistent. Or perhaps they can’t understand our accent;)

Tanya got the pleasure of being a Femcee and Kimiko braved a hard bout but was still able to warm the crowd’s heart. The hosts are great, they’re quick and funny. The poets are amazing. And strong willed and insightful. All, in all our first day at WOW was really fun. Dan is our official entourage and when people come to talk to us they have to go through her first. Toronto is representing strong. And if any one of us makes it to final stage i expect a car load of you Torontoians to bust down here to cheer us on!

Highlight of the night: Amy Davids from the Green Mill did a 4 min piece that got more laughs than i can remember any spoken word piece getting. She spoke about trying to bring all the right-winged anti-gay marriage collations together in order to ban straight marriage if only because being a bridesmaid is the most awful job in the world. This description does not do the poem justice.

Check out this link for ranks and scores.

Stay tuned for Day 2 which hopefully will have less guns & tasers, better food, and just as much great poetry.

A double CD highlighting the best performances from last year’s Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is now available. Check out the forum post for more, including a quick way to help promote it.

Want on the 2008 TPS team? The future comes soon.

Are you excited? I’m excited. Are you? Of course you are. Of course you’re excited - three hours from my writing this, 200 people will be packing Hugh’s Room to hear the 8 top slammers from the season vie for spots on the 2nd Toronto team for the nationals - and, of course, Shane “Maybe My Eye-Melting Poetry Ate Your Baby” Koyczan.

I’m still lobbying officials to have staple guns given exemptions as props. Not sure how that’ll turn out - I think the rep from Riverdale can be bought out, but the rest are tough - but expect lacerations nonetheless, even if only of the metaphorical nature.

Hugh’s Room (Bloor and Dundas)
8pm (come early for a seat)
$10

Believe it.

• Joe Fiorito covered the story slam in one of his recent columns for the Star.

  What was I doing there? I have told narrative tales before, sometimes in this space; my ear is always bent. I was asked to be a judge.

  Judging is subjective, but if I were a publisher on the lookout for the Next Big Bright Young Thing, I’d troll the story slams for talent.

• We now have an online event listings submission thing, which people apparently like, since three new events have been posted in the two days since it went live (there is no reason for you to not experience some spoken word in the coming week). Use it to tell us about your events.

Hey all - slam-master Dave “Big Deal” Silverberg has finalized the rules and regs for those itchin’ to rep Toronto in Halifax for 2007’s Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Get to know them intimately here; discuss them in the forum here.

And for the skull scratchers, here’s a taste of what you missed this year - video from a documentary following Calgary’s slam team and their trip to the the 2006 CFSW, hosted proudly right here in Toronto:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Lovers of words, it’s been a sweet month for poetry. The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Toronto blew many a mind, and gave the city some fresh perspectives on the art form of spoken word. Poets from across the country dropped some serious science on our cerebrals. When all was said and done, Vancouver took home their third championship in a row, with the Toronto2 team coming in second. Most importantly, poets guerilla-stormed the Indigo on John Street, we packed the St. Lawrence Centre on the finals night, and the community strengthened to the point where many of us were sad to see each other go back to our respective hometowns.

But onto this month’s real significance — the one-year anniversary of Toronto Poetry Slam. This funky spoken word competition began a year ago in the back room of the old Oasis Cafe on College (now The Savannah Room). Since that packed-wall-to-wall night, the Slam has taken off beyond my expectations: We’ve filled the El Mocambo on a Sunday night, crammed the Drake with hot poetry courtesy of New York’s Rives, and turned amateur poets into stars on any given night. I think it’s appropriate to big-up the winners of the past Toronto Poetry Slams, but note that every competitor deserves applause. A special congrats to: Spencer (3-time champ), Gypsy Eyes, Mic Smith, Tomy Bewick, DaneJahRas, Amanda Hiebert, and Leviathan.

The 2007 season of Toronto Poetry Slam is going to be a rockin’ good time, and I look forward to another 12 months of enthusiastic and supportive audiences. Watch out for themed slams, guest appearances by slam superstars Mike McGee and Barbara Adler, and an organized season of slammery that will determine the next Toronto Slam Team that will compete in both the U.S. National Slam Championship and the 2007 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

See you at the anniversary show on Nov. 25 at Cervejaria! Until then.

• We have a forum! Share your words. Comment on slams, post poetry, use it as you like.
• Hogtown hipster newspiles Torontoist and BlogTO take notice, while Valentino moves closer to securing a position as official unofficial TPS cheerleader.
• July guest feature Rives reflects on a day in Toronto before attending the underground sensation known as the “Toronto Poerty Slam” (note to Rives: we spell it that way to confuse the squares).
• And some atmospheric pictures of the ever-emotive Rives’ set, courtesy of Selina:

…and this is what they’re saying.

Toronto Poetry Slam helps keep Toronto bumpin’. June winner Leviathan has a knack for rhyme. And slam regular Spencer, spotted at the Pedestrian Sunday Kensington gig (which also featured Cynthia Gould, Dave Silverberg, Electric Jon, Leviathan, Mic. Smith, Ziy, and a surprise appearance by Gypsy Eyes), is just plain hot.

And on the topic of that street show, I think we can look forward to another set of bombastic ballads on Baldwin at the next PSK… am I right, O He of the Hosty goodness?