WebSlam VIII – Rules & Suggestions

A Few Simple Rules

• Participants must reside in New Mexico and/or the Navajo Nation.
• Participants must be part of a high school or community-sponsored team.
• Each school/team must have between four and six members.
• Each school/team must have a “coach,” usually an English teacher.
• Individual participants must each write a new and original poem each week for the three weeks of WebSlam. (One per person, not one per team)
• Three winners are determined by the highest cumulative scores.

For more information or if you have questions, email alex@nmculturenet.org

A Few Suggestions for Responding to the Prompts

• Avoid value-laden adjectives such as "good," "pretty," etc.
• Try not to use judgmental language such as "I like" or "It was awesome."
• Type your poems, if possible, in MS Word and use Spell Check before copying and pasting them into the submission form
• If you have specialized knowledge—horticultural, historical, mechanical, etc. —don't hesitate to use it, if appropriate.
• If you speak more than one language, use them, if you like and if appropriate
• Vulgarity is frowned upon. It creates bad PR for our program and shows lack of imagination. You can do better.
• Poems that express hate towards an individual or group of individuals are not acceptable, period.
• Read your poem aloud; revise. Read your poem to a friend or classmate; revise.

and...

• Try to be a keen observer. Take an inventory of a place or what a person is saying. What is there? What is omitted? What is implied? Build your own feelings and conclusions on a foundation of such observations.
• Be smart about using background material: snatches of conversation, biographical information, hard facts, etc. This information is readily available.
• Seek and give honest feedback.
• Listen.