Join us for the September edition of Poetry in the Gallery! This month, we’ll be shaking the format up slightly to accommodate our first ever poetry slam!

The open mic will remain intact, so poets do not need to sign up to the slam in order to perform (and, as usual, open micers do not need to sign up in advance).

If you are interested in participating in the slam, however, please do sign up ahead of time by e-mailing the host: sean[at]studiochannelislands.org

Also featuring this month is the incredible Peg Quinn!

Peg Quinn grew up in rural Nebraska and has a B.F.A. in Education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her poetry and creative non-fiction have been published in numerous journals and anthologies and has been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize. She lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she is an educator and visual artist. Her debut poetry book, Mother Lode, was published by Gunpowder Press in 2021.

Rules and information for the slam are as follows:

• Please prepare TWO poems, each UNDER three minutes
• A judging panel will be scoring performances both on the quality of the poem and the quality of the performance; penalties for going over three minutes will be factored into the final scores
• Poems do NOT need to be memorized or covering any specific theme or topic; just bring the pieces you like the most or feel most comfortable reading
• Poems must be original works
• No props allowed (what constitutes a prop is sometimes tricky to determine; if you perform a poem in which a wristwatch is an important part of the piece, pointing to your wristwatch during the performance would be considered using a prop; please check with the host ahead of time if you’re unsure, so your scores receive no penalties)
• All participants in the slam will perform one poem in the first half; then, the highest-scoring poets will advance to the final round in the second half to perform their second poems; if you do not make it to the second round, you can still perform your second poem as part of the open mic in the second half
• There will be a cash prize of $100 for the winner and $50 for the runner-up