As a slam poet, not only content is important in my poems, but also delivery must be considered. That being said, I've written poems that are absolute rubbish, but thrown a fit on the stage and got an ovation. So, although both elements are important, which one do you think is crucial to the success of your poems? (I realize as a slam poet, I have a distinctly different medium than trad. poets.)
What do you mean by a slam poet? It's a term I have not heard before, please excuse my ignorance.
Last edited:
It is possible in this day and age, with youtube and other sites like it, that slam poetry may find a lasting home somewhere. My problem is style should never trump substance. If the flaws of a tremendous performance piece are too easily evident on the written page, without the performance to back it up, people will wonder why anyone thought to include it.
I'm a pretty fierce traditionalist. Slam poetry is okay, and can be exhilarating and fun, but in the end, substance is the only dividing line between what's Scottish and what is crap.
I'm a pretty fierce traditionalist. Slam poetry is okay, and can be exhilarating and fun, but in the end, substance is the only dividing line between what's Scottish and what is crap.
A. Hamilton
here for a minute...catch me?
Kind Benefactor
Poetry Book Collaborator
Super Member
Registered
well, I just spent the last hour surfing slam poetry on youtube, my first encounter with the genre. it's a very powerful medium. delivery here would be vital, but the content has to hold up. no fluff for sure, and the beauty could be missed because off the way it's pushed in your face. I'm enjoying this for the intense power of the raw emotion and will revisit often.
to address the OP here, I think the content needs to have immediate impact to succeed, but a strong delivery could triple that impact in a way that merely reading the written word would fail.
to address the OP here, I think the content needs to have immediate impact to succeed, but a strong delivery could triple that impact in a way that merely reading the written word would fail.
A. Hamilton
here for a minute...catch me?
Kind Benefactor
Poetry Book Collaborator
Super Member
Registered
p.s
there were two female poets that made a strong impression on me, and their content is quite different, while their delivery very similar in its emotional punch.
check them out:
Liza Garza
Gina Loring
there were two female poets that made a strong impression on me, and their content is quite different, while their delivery very similar in its emotional punch.
check them out:
Liza Garza
Gina Loring
- Joined
- May 11, 2007
- Messages
- 20,569
- Reaction score
- 4,814
- Location
- youtu.be/QRruBVFXjnY
- Website
- www.ifoundaknife.com
I'm so glad other people understand the importance of style and delivery. So many people don't realize that writing is actually two separate processes, the creation and the delivery. They try to lump it into one action, putting pen to paper and writing out the idea as it comes. You can come up with an absolutely brilliant idea for a piece of work, but completely fail at getting the idea across effectively, which makes it so important to put effort into both actions. It's just like telling a joke. You can have two people tell the same exact joke and have one person receive laughter and applause while the other gets booed off the stage.
Content is important, but delivery is of equal or greater importance. If the delivery fails, the content will never reach the audience.
Content is important, but delivery is of equal or greater importance. If the delivery fails, the content will never reach the audience.