Editor’s Pitch

TV makes everything a competition, but SlamNation’s real story isn’t about who wins or loses but rather the energy, anger and drive which propels artists to engage with an audience. With just the sheer force of their voices, this is an episodic ping pong match between shock, laughter, amazement and difficult truths.



A Slam is the term for the art of melding poetry and live performance. Begun over 20 years ago by Marc Smith as the “UpTown Poetry Slam” in Chicago, Slamming has become a national phenomenon in North America thanks to the annual Slam Championship held in a different US city every year. Emmy award-winning director Paul Devlin trains his intimate camera on New York’s Slam Team as they travel to Portland Oregon to compete against 26 other cities for the National Poetry Slam title. Passion, rivalry, electric word-play and tremendous fun fill the competitive rollercoaster which is SlamNation.

The New York team are Saul Williams, Beau Sia, mums the schemer, and Jessica Care Moore – edgy, challenging and like all of New York’s previous entrants, first timers. Devlin follows the forming of the team, the relationship between what are virtual strangers, and the very different attitudes and personal stories of these talented, driven artists.

Slam favourites they may be, but New York are pitted against Team Providence (Rhode Island) and Team Berwyn (Illinois) featuring the impossible to miss personalities of spiky clown Taylor Mali and the near puritanical Daniel Feri. It soon becomes clear that the world of poetry is place where egos, politics and long standing rivalry are alive and well.

Scoring the Slams isn’t an exact science and judging over the four day competition is controversial. What aren’t up for discussion are the rules. Performances, be they individual or group efforts, are strictly controlled – 3 mins maximum, no music, no props, and you cannot, under any circumstances, perform someone else’s work. As each day passes, the field narrows, the winning more sweet, the pain more apparent. When the final finally arrives, the display of cultural differences and polemic versus comedy is meaningful stuff. Devlin’s gentle probing of the team member’s lives has elevated their heart-felt exclamations into something more passing entertainment.

In a century where the written word via email, text and twitters is trumping the social scene, SlamNation is a delightful reminder of the power of personal, in-the-moment, face-to-face communication.