Info Nugget: The history of the poetry slam

The poetry slam, although originating in Chicago, can trace its roots back to Ancient Greece. During ancient times, the predecessor for the modern poetry slam was the Olympic sport of pankration. Introduced in 646 B.C., the rules for pankration were simple: two naked men would engage in combat employing a variety of punches, kicks, choke holds, and takedowns. A winner was decided when one man was knocked unconscious, submitted, or died. These competitions were so brutal that wins that came as a result of killing one’s opponent were not uncommon; additionally, the restrictions on the combatants were virtually nonexistent. Anything went over the course of combat, save for eye gouges and bites.

As you would expect, the sight of two dudes killing each other was a popular spectator sport until the popularity of the sport eventually died when people realized it would be a lot more fun to watch if the fighters put some Goddamn pants on. The Professional Pankration Association of Greece (PPAoG) refused to adapt the sport to the wants of the fans because they felt clothing would ruin the integrity of the competition. Eventually, Pankration fans grew tired of seeing way too many dicks get way too close to way too many assholes, and the sport slipped into obscurity.

Fast forward to 1984. Marc Smith, an American poet born on the southeast side of Chicago, found himself conflicted. He loved poetry, he loved reading it, and he even loved listening to other people read it, but he just couldn’t escape the feeling that poetry might be missing something. On his way home from his construction job on one hot June evening, he witnessed two young men peer editing each other’s Penthouse letters on a park bench. The two men quickly got into a heated argument as to which letter would more likely appear in the publication which then quickly escalated into nude violence.

Upon witnessing this, Smith was inspired and ran to the nearest library and angrily demanded that the woman at the desk give him access to all books on the subject of naked men fighting.

The librarian pointed out that Smith was standing in a public library, so, based on the nature of public institutions, he already had access to what he wanted. Smith apologized for being abrasive but records show that the woman behind the desk still called him an asshole under her breath as he walked away.

Nonetheless, Smith eventually came across the sport of pankcration in an encyclopedia and, not knowing how libraries work, took it back to his house without checking it out. The same librarian that was accosted by Smith watched him run out with the encyclopedia, and, being of a non-confrontational nature, decided to just quietly call him an asshole again then actually stop him.

Smith spent the entire night drawing up the process for the modern poetry slam, which is as follows:

• After every poet reads his poem, there is a five-minute slam session.
• At the beginning of the slam session, an air horn is blown.
• After the air horn, other poets have to physically remove the last speaker from the mic.
• The rules for combat are the same as pankration except eye gouging and biting are encouraged.
• After the five minutes are up, the air horn is blown.
• Whichever poet is in the possession of the mic by the time the air horn is blown reads next.
• The process continues until the end of the night.
• Whoever is in control of the mic at the end of the night is the champion.

Smith was debating on making nudity a necessity to compete, but fearing that history may repeat itself, decided against it.