For over a decade, the Wordsmiths of Berlin have held an annual Poetry Slam at the high school auditorium. The event has served as place for aspiring poets to share their work.
“This is year 11 for us. We’ve had a Poetry Slam every year. Our audience traditionally is pretty small, you know, some years bigger than others,” Wordsmiths adviser Andrew Reise said.
The participants for the Poetry Slam have fluctuated over the years. The club can never really predict how many will participate beforehand.
“We have had as few as four and as many as 13. It varies every year, it’s a little bit of a practice in faith, because our contestants usually submit in the last one or two days of the contest,” Reise said.
During the competition, the participants will share two original poems with the audience and a panel of judges that is chosen from the audience.
“Our judges for this competition are chosen from volunteers in the audience, which is unique because they’re not experts. The judges listen to the poems as presented, and they decide which ones they think are the best,” Reise said.
For some poets the writing the inspiration for their work comes at random times.
“They (ideas for poems) kind of just come at random times. I’ll be really emotional in a moment. Inspiration just comes. I’ll sit down on my laptop, type it all out,” Runner -Up Ella Spitler said.
For other students, it is a way for them to talk about problems they see in the world around them.
“I’m going to speak specifically on the second poem I entered, ‘The Hats of Dreamers.’ Writing that poem, for me, was mostly just processing the current events of the world politically. So the process of creating it was more or less just me spouting what was in my brain onto the paper,” First- Place Winner Tasi Ana Sanchez said.
For first-time poets, the event can look intimidating. However with the help of Reise’s guidance it allowed for a smooth experience.
“It was really fun. I didn’t know what to expect. Walking in,I was like, ‘what am I gonna do?’ I come in, I see Mr. Reise. He told me what to do and made me feel a little bit better, ” Spitler said.
Students who have performed before and come back to the event tend to feel more content and at ease.
“This year was definitely more relaxed than last year since I knew what was happening,” Sanchez said.
Overall at the center of the poetry slam is the idea to give the people of Berlin to share their thoughts.
“If you have a message to share, share it. Nobody’s voice is too quiet. Creative outlets like the poetry slam offer an experience to make yourself heard. I think anyone who has even the smallest amount of desire to do so should just do it,” Sanchez said.
