From the CBC Radio Web site:

“Poet laureate, spoken word poets clash”
Trevor Hughes, The Arts Report

In a recent Globe and Mail article, poet laureate George Bowering denounced slam, or spoken word, poetry and poetry competitions as “revolting.”

Treating poetry as a competition is “crude and extremely revolting,” Bowering told the Globe.

In the late '80's, early '90's William Kennedy was present at some of the poetry and, yes, slam events in Albany, namely those at QE2 and the Eighth Step Coffee House, which is where I met him.

Sherlock calls foul on the -- language -- punch... and it's the Vancouver victor Davies back from outside the ring... he's clarifying his language poetics punch -- Bowering comes back from the ropes with a foul call -- Vernon Frazier in there for a clinch with Davies -- Bowering back with a sideways slam on clarifications and now it's Gallaher calling foul on slam terminology -- Komninos comes out of the close corner with a real heavy print clarification slam at Gallaher -- and folks -- this is amazing -- here comes Gudding from the close corner in red trunks with a mighty slam in favor of universal slam poetry... ladies and gentlemen, it's looking like slam is looking pretty good -- oops, here comes Nudel slamming slam -- Murat slams another slam in favor of Gudding and the great Northern Laureate Bowering is on the ropes -- waiting to hear from the poetry prince of Canada folks -- and it's Pierre Joris -- the Albany bard hitting hard for slam....

To which one could add Pindar & those Olympic Greek slams, plus, say Shakespeare & Marlowe squaring it off for the $ favors of a noble benefactor with their two poems written for the occasions of such meetings, and a millennia-long tribal tradition of boast poems....

Do we have a comment from Bowering? Yes -- yes... he's back in the ring....

No, no. Bill Kennedy was a not-quite-good-enough forward in the American Hockey League for about 20 years in the fifties and sixties. He once scored 12 goals and 22 assists in a single season for the Cleveland Barons.

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What a game... So who says poetics poets can't slam with the best of 'em... what a fight... what a match... slam poetics at the top of its form... a technical knockout... Bowering sways at the ropes...

Nick Piombino