Welcome to the 2008 Jewish Music Festival

EVENT: Poetry Slam on the theme of Diaspora

Wed, Mar 21, 2007 at 9:30 PM

at the Starry Plough Pub
3101 Shattuck Ave. at Prince Street, Berkeley
$7 general, $5 students with ID
Tickets first-come, first-serve, at venue only

Finalists perform at Spoken Word Showcase Community Music Day, Finale of the 22nd Jewish Music Festival Sunday, March 25, 3:15-4:00 pm.

Di·as·po·ra (dī-ās’pər-ə) n.

*1. The dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century B.C., when they were exiled to Babylonia, until the present time.

*2. often diaspora The body of Jews or Jewish communities outside Palestine or modern Israel.

*3. diaspora

a. A dispersion of a people from their original homeland. b. The community formed by such a people: “the glutinous dish known throughout the [West African] diaspora as … fufu” (Jonell Nash).

*4. diaspora – A dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture: “the diaspora of English into several mutually incomprehensible languages” (Randolph Quirk).

Poets should arrive early to sign up for the slam at the Starry Plough.

Sign-ups open at 7:30, and remain open until the slam starts at 8:30. Poets who have work on the theme of “Diaspora” will get priority. There are TWO rounds to the slam, but only one poem (first round) on the theme is required.

Berzerkeley SLAM Rules:

1: Have Fun!
Compete to uplift, not defeat. Leave your ego at the door.
The point is not the points, the point is poetry!

2: Poems 1 original poem per round, under 3 minutes. 10-second grace period (3:10), then 0.1 penalty per 0:01. Time begins at first utterance!

3: Content The theme of Diaspora, any style. One possible bonus point 1st round only. Focus on words: No music (Singing/rhythm is OK). No costumes or props.

4: Judging Five judges selected from the audience by lottery. Poems judged on a 1-10 scale, with tenths. High and low scores are dropped. Poets can be disqualified for attitude. If you can’t shake hands afterwards, somebody’s got a bad attitude. Ties are broken by Sudden Death Haiku Audience choice goes to Round 2 regardless of score.

5: Heckling Good-natured heckling from the Audience and Judges is great, but intimidation is not only rude, it’s weak.

6: Prizes
1st=$200, 2nd=$100, 3rd=$50

For further information, please visit:
www.berkeleypoetryslam.com

Performer bios:

The Jewish Music Festival is a program of the
Jewish Community Center of the East Bay (JCCEB)