Equal Oppurtunity Statement

Do you have the exceptional writing and performance skills to be on the Houston Slam Team, the highest ranked PSI certified slam team in the city? The Houston Slam Team ranked 37th out of 76 teams at the 2011 National Poetry Slam, and if you want to be a part of us climbing UP in ranking for the 6th year in a row, then you need to compete when the 2011-12 Houston Poetry Slam open season starts on Septemeber 5, 2011 @ Deans Bar 312 Main Street in the heart of downtown Houston. Be a part of our historic 11th team, the 2012 Houston Slam Team.

Join us each month on the 1st Monday of each month to try out for your spot on the team. Be sure to read the rules here:

Poets not familiar with regulation poetry slams should read this helpful article about the basic principles of poetry slam here:

Please join us for our best season of poetry slam ever! If you have any questions, please contact the Slammaster of Houston Poetry Slam: Cedric Ary aka Brother Said.

As the SlamMaster of an event sanctioned and registered/certified with Poetry Slam, Inc., the SlamMaster and/or his or her assigns agree:

1. To provide a poetry event which is open to all people regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, ethnicity or lifestyle;

2. That Poetry Slam, Inc. will permit a registered venue to serve a specific segment of the population (e.g. an all women’s Poetry Slam) provided that the organizers demonstrate a need for such an event within that community to PSI, and provided that the municipality or geographical area in question is already represented by a regular Poetry Slam series open to all participants. Exceptions are also made for venues where local laws prohibit minors, or physical characteristics of the building cannot accommodate everyone. Demonstrable effort should be made to provide an opportunity for any legally protected group to participate, where no other local options to participate in a Poetry Slam exist. It is understood that Poetry Slam events which are open to all are given preference in selection for the National Poetry Slam;

3. That the SlamMaster must provide team members with a National Poetry Slam rulebook before participating in any sanctioned National Poetry Slam event, and encourage team members to read and understand the rules and guidelines;

4. To create a fair and equitable Poetry Slam while providing leadership which encourages, illuminates and supports established standards of good-sportsmanship;

5. To provide, to the best of his or her ability, a professional working environment for all poets and audience members;

6. To provide an atmosphere of mutual support and encouragement in which poets are invited to develop, network and grow;

7. To provide an atmosphere in which freedom of speech, self-determination, and pursuit of creative excellence is an inalienable right. It is understood that audience members not in competition or affiliated with the venue’s organization are unregulated;

8. To endeavor to create an environment in which all poets in good standing with PSI are allowed to pursue their craft peacefully and without censure;

9. To do his or her best to be a good host by providing necessary local information relevant to his or her guest poets’ travel, including but not limited to information about local hotels, restaurants and other points of interest;

10. To agree to comply with local, state and federal laws pertaining to individual civil rights and sexual harassment and to do his or her best to provide a safe environment for all participants. When artistic and creative expression on stage during a performance conflicts with legal statutes regarding physical or sexual harassment, it is understood that the poet may be creatively representing a voice or point of view other than his or her own and is not necessarily espousing the point of view of the poem and the poet’s rights to creative expression shall remain in effect.