Think you have a way with words? The Poetry Slay Challenge by Keno Publications invites poets, writers and logophiles to an evening in Nicosia dedicated to performance poetry. This Thursday night, the Flea Theatre will fill with writers who seek to challenge themselves and earn a place in the slam poetry world.

After a successful pilot run and the popular demand it created, Keno Publications will hold the first edition of The Poetry Slay Challenge this week. What it’s all about?

“A challenge dedicated to performance poetry and performance poetry only,” say organisers, “directed equally to seasoned veterans of the performance poetry scene, edgy slammers, uproarious newcomers, in-betweeners (and, even, outsiders). So, if you fall within one of these categories and you are eager to share your work with the world, get your poem ready, learn it and come to express it by heart.”

The evening begins at 7.30pm and performers are required to deliver original poems that do not exceed three minutes. The organisers remind slammers that performance is just as much as the use of body, voice and presence as it is about the words. “Evaluation,” they say “is the collective act of the Bards of Balance, who are randomly selected from all willing attendees.”

Originality of content, its emotional impact, the pace of the performance and body language also are accounted for. Slammers, or in this case the slayers of the Poetry Slay Challenge, can perform in any language, with a translation.

Poetry Slay Challenge

Slam poetry event. May 1. Flea Theatre, Nicosia. 7.30pm. €5 for performers, €2 for audience members. Registrations by email only: [email protected]