The 40th annual Poetry Slam was held at The Max Bar and Grill on Nov. 15. The slam was free and open to the public, starting at 7 p.m. and lasted until 10:45 p.m.

To compete in the slam participants had to pay a $5.00 entry fee to compete and also bring four poems to share. The sacrificial goat is the first unofficial person to read so competitors get a feel for how the judges score. This semester it was Andrew Clegg. The event was free and open to the public.

Seventeen people participated in the slam this semester. First and second place was a tie between Vito Cole and Lonn Atwood. Ezra Jude placed third, and David Kalet placed fourth. Eddie Elfers and Cole also provided pre-slam entertainment.

Judges this semester were Bailey Dahlkoetter, Cheyenne Reimers and Scott McIntosh. Prizes for the top four were goodie bags of various random objects, the highlights being a potato, a pack of gum from the career fair, a pack of trendy choker necklaces, and an easy bake oven.

Cole is not new to the slam, but this is his first time winning the poetry slam.

“I have competed numerous times,” Cole said. “I believe this is my first time winning/tying for first place in the poetry part of the slam. I won the fiction slam a couple semesters ago.”

Senior Lisa Dohmen also competed in the slam this year. Dohmen’s poem titled “Abuser and Username,” discussed struggling with an addiction to social media.

“I wrote it for a poetry class a couple years ago and I revamped it this summer,” Dohmen said. “It compares social media to all kind of drugs. I would say the concept came from many people telling me I’m constantly on my phone and it’s true. I realized I’m addicted to social media and the reward it gives me to be ‘liked.’”

Dohmen’s first time participating in a slam was spring 2016 and she’s been to multiple since then.

A poetry slam is held each semester, and encourages students to come out and display their poetry talents for the judges and peers.

The sponsors of this semesters slam were WSC Press, WSC Writing Club, Sigma Tau Delta, Logan House Press, Maria’s market, Scheels, F.Y.E and Barnes & Noble.