Hullabaloo is a spoken word poetry festival that gives youth a forum to find
their voice, connect with a community of writers, and dialogue with the public at large.
School teams from all over British Columbia come together, competing in slams,
participating in workshops, making chapbooks, and taking part in a youth-focused
celebration of words.
Hullabaloo 2014 will be the 4th annual event, taking place April 24–26th, 2014. School group bookings are available. Bring your whole class to experience slam poetry!
To have a competing team to Hullabaloo, start a slam club where students can practice writing and performing
their poems. Then select a team of three to six youth poets who are 19 years of age or younger to represent your
school. Team registration for Hullabaloo opens January 2014.
poetry in schools
Wanna join?
More info at YouthSlam.ca
FOR POETS 14–22 YEARS OLD & AUDIENCES OF ALL AGES!
The youth slam is a place where youth get to speak for themselves in 3 minute
blasts of spoken word bravado. All styles of poetry are
welcome on our poetry open mic and in the poetry slam competition.
Normal poetry slam rules apply. No props, no costumes, no
musical instruments. Poets have 3 minutes or less to
perform their poem. The poet must be the primary author of the piece.
5 random judges chosen from the crowd give scores from 0-10. In the
first round, up to 12 poets perform their work. The top 5 highest scoring
poets move on to the second round where they perform another poem.
4TH MONDAY
OF EVERY MONTH
CAFE DEUX SOLEILS
2096 COMMERCIAL DRIVE
VANCOUVER, BC
SIGN UP @ 7, SHOW @8
$4/18 AND YOUNGER
$6/19 AND OLDER
Points are deducted for time penalties. Top scoring poets receive
cash and prizes, as well as gaining points to qualify for the
Vancouver Youth Grand Slam. The Grand Slam (held in the spring of
2013) determines which five poets will comprise the 2013 Vancouver Youth
Poetry Slam Team. Making part of the team includes all kinds of cool
benefits such as performing at literary and spoken word events
around Vancouver and beyond.
MAKING POETRY COME ALIVE
Sean McGarragle: Vancouver Slam poetry team
member, Story Slam champion, key note speaker at the
Surrey Young Author’s Conference, Canadian Festival
of Spoken Word featured reader.
WordPlay is dedicated
to showing students how
poetry is a living, breathing art form. The program was established in January 2005,
making it the longest-running poetry in schools service, staffed by the best spoken word
poets in Vancouver. Our poets run performance and writing workshops in dozens of high
schools, elementary schools, and community centres every year.
Barbara Adler: CBC Poetry Face Off Winner, Canadian
Team Slam Champion, founding member of The
Fugitives, Reach Out Psychosis performer, mentor for
IGNITE Spoken Word Intensive, accordion rocker.
Brendan McLeod: Vancouver and Canadian SLAM
poetry champion, member of The Fugitives, nominated
for the RE:Lit Fiction Award, once had a dog with no fur
that everyone referred to as a 'chihuahua with a mullet'.
Francis Arevalo: 2009 Vancouver youth slam
champion, IGNITE! Spoken Word Intensive graduate,
founder of "Speak!" talent showcase, Candelabra
Collective member.
Johnny MacRae: Vancouver Poetry Slam team
member and Grand Champion, the only poet to win a
slam in Banff, Canadian Improv Champion, loves cats,
Dr. Seuss, toothy and toothless grins.
“These spoken word artists make poetry
real for the students in a way that
textbooks cannot...I saw an increased
interest in our poetry curriculum.”
Gary Davis, English Teacher,
King George Secondary
Tessa Bourguignon: billingual writer (French/English),
Youth Poetry Slam Team member, Saltspring island
G.I.S.S. theatre program founding member, studying
travel journalism.
Lucia Misch: 2010/11 Vancouver Slam Team, two-time
South Bay Youth Slam champion, winner of 2010
Vancouver Labour Slam, bicycle mechanic and
champion leek and potato soup maker.
Chrystalene Buhler: Vancouver Poetry Slam team
member, editor of Visiting Hours by Shane Koyczan,
sonnet writer, former Word Play coordinator, holistic
nutritionist, clown.
Kelsey Savage: Vancouver Youth Slam team member,
IGNITE! Spoken Word Intensive graduate, Candelabra
Collective member, beatboxer, glass-shattering laugh,
thinks poetry = ninja + acrobatic pigeon.
[email protected]
VancouverPoetryHouse.com/Wordplay
604.681.2715
Jillian Christmas: 2011 BeDRoCC slam grand champ,
enthusiastic collector of wayward hearts, warm hugs
and random celestial-experiences.
Kyle Shaughnessy: transgender artist, social worker,
Buddhist, 2006 CBC Poetry Face-Off, OutTV, Canadian
Festival of Spoken Word team member, will make you a
little uncomfortable but you’ll be glad he did.
Zaccheus Jackson: three-time VanSlam team member,
two-time Vancouver Individual Slam champ, 2007
GrandSlam Champ, obsessed with Heinz Ketchup,
never touches dimes.
Kevan Anthony Cameron/Scruffmouth: advocate,
SFU graduate, soccer player, creative director for Black
Dot Roots and Culture Collective, storyteller.
Erin Kirsh: 2011 Youth Slam Poetry Team, former actor
(until she met too many actors), prone to outbursts of
drama, whimsy, and word tornados.
RC Weslowski: clown mouth full of x-ray visions trying
to get at the heart of things, traveling poet, published in
One Cool Word, surrealist heart, Poet of Honour at the
Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.
WordPlay workshops and performances are specifically designed to adapt to the needs
of your school. Our poets have an enormous variety of styles and experience and they
are experts at making poetry engaging and fun. We have a variety of workshops designed
specifically for English, Drama, and Creative Writing classes at every grade level.
“The kids loved it. Good use of humour really
appeals to them Perfect for English classes at
various levels. Works to motivate group at
beginning of unit. Can’t wait to have them back.”
Karen Brett, English Teacher,
Panorama Ridge Secondary
HOW MUCH DOES A WORDPLAY VISIT COST?
$360 – Half-day rate. Two poets, (up to) two classes (maximum 35 students each class) within a morning
or an afternoon. Poets always perform a few of their own poems as part of the workshops.
$550 – Full-day rate. Two poets, (up to) four classes (maximum 35 students each class) over the course
of one school day. Poets can also perform at lunch in the auditorium or library for interested students.
$880 – All-Star Slam. General assembly performances geared toward audiences of at least one entire grade
or preferably the entire school.
New Programs for the 2013-14 School Year:
All-Star Slam – Are your students finding poetry boring? Unexciting? An archaic form practiced by old people
obsessed with nature? Try All-Star Slam. It brings the poignancy, hilarity, and immediacy of slam poetry
competitions live to your school. Generally held in auditoriums or theatres, the All-Star SLAM pits three former
poetry slam champions head to head to head in an all-out battle of poetic verve and wit. How does it work?
Simple. The poets perform one poem each in three rounds, all of which are judged on a scale of zero to ten
by the audience (in this case, the students!) In the end, the winner is announced, though in effect, everyone
has won. Students have been moved, inspired, and engaged by poetry, often for the first time in their lives.
As one student had it: “This is better than Metallica!” The topics are engaging, the presentation is amazing,
and the competition is riveting. Guaranteed to jumpstart students into writing careers of their own.
Subsidized prices are available for certain schools (or other organizations) that can demonstrate financial need.
You can obtain a more detailed breakdown by contacting us. Don't be scared off by the numbers – we like poems
a whole lot more than math, and we'll work hard to get poets into your classroom.
Mo Lawrence: 2011 Vancouver Youth Slam Champion,
featured performer at venues such as the Vancouver
East Cultural Centre, the Rio Theatre, Café Deux
Soleils, UBC Philosophy and English major.
Sonya Littlejohn: Black Dot Roots and Culture
Collective member, concerned with the social
conscience and love, single mother, trying to change
the world.
And last, but not least, our Fabulous Word Play Program
Coordinator!
Chris Gilpin: Vancouver Poetry Slam Team member,
Haiku Deathmatch Champion, CBC Poetry Face-off
winner, Write Bloody finalist. Poetry makes him feel like
he's driving a clown car filled with all his friends.