The Poetry Slam will be held at Max Bar & Grill in Wayne on November 16 with registration starting at 6:30 p.m. and the competition starting at 7. 

Chad Christensen, a professor at Wayne State College, said the competition is open to the public. There is a $5 registration fee to participate and prizes for those who participate. You will also need to have four prepared poems. 

“The Poetry Slam is a biannual poetry competition held to showcase individuals’ poetic creativity in a competitive format,” the WSC Press website stated. The WSC Press went on to state the WSC poetry slam is the longest-running contentious slam in Nebraska. 

Christensen said this is the 47th poetry slam. He said the poetry slam was around before he was a student at WSC when they held the slam at Riley’s. Christensen said people from Northeast Community College have come to participate along with WSC graduates. 

Christensen said the poetry slam was started by Lisa Sandlin and JV Brummels. It was small for the first few slams before it started to grow.  

Christensen said the slam has a long tradition. “The last one was crazy, we had three state poets in the room the slam. The current state poet, former Nebraska state poet, Twilight Hanson, and the state poet from Missouri,” Christensen said. The poetry slam of Wayne has made itself a name bigger than most think. 

Christensen said students love the slams. It’s a way for them to share their work, and the slam itself is exciting. He said it is an opportunity for people to look at new horizons and a place to come back to for those who love it. 

Christensen said that the judges come from the Plains Writers Series. Whoever they have speaking that day, normally Great Plans or regional writers, will be the judges for the slam later that night.  

“I think it’s kind of a tradition, and a good tradition,” Christensen said. The judging varies by whoever they bring in because everyone has different tastes.