The WSC Slams will host the “Socks and Sacks” poetry slam on March 2 at The Max Bar and Grill. 

This event marks the 46th installment of the WSC Slam’s biannual slam series, making it the longest-running poetry slam in Nebraska. The slam is organized by the Editing and Publishing students of WSC, who manage everything from fundraising to event running. 

The theme set for the first slam of the year trends towards the playful, with “Socks and Sacks” standing in for sock and sack puppets. While the slam is open-category, entrants are encouraged to have fun and experiment with the theme in their work.  

Registration for poets will open at 6:30, and doors will officially open at 7:00. There will be pre-show entertainment with guitar performances and an emcee. The event is free admission and relatively casual, so attendees are permitted to order food from the bar before the show. 

Olivia Wright, student and current Slam Master, describes this year’s slam as her team’s labor of love.  

“We’ve spent a lot of time out in the community trying to raise money, and we’ve been lucky enough to have received some especially generous donations,” Wright said.  

These donations have made it possible for Wright and her team to gather new prizes for the contest’s winners. 

In order to enter the competition, poets will need to submit four original poems along with a $5 entrance fee. Poets will compete in elimination-style brackets determined by a panel of judges until four remain. Prizes will be given out to first through fourth place winners.  

“This year’s winners’ boxes will be filled with various prizes from local thrift stores, along with rewards worth up to $50 from Godfather’s, Dairy Queen, SM bank, Wayne East, Pac-N-Save, Carhart and Runza,” Wright said. 

Wright advertises the slam as a “microcosm of new ideas and literature,” and invites all students to look past preconceived notions of what a poetry slam entails.  

“A lot of people see slam as something really foreign and weird, but I would encourage people to move out of their comfort zone and give our show a try,” Wright said. “It’s a pretty casual performance platform, so it allows writers to try out new ideas in a safe environment. As a writer, I’ve really benefited from these events, because I’ve been exposed to so many different styles and ideas in one night.”