Ehalakasa National Poetry Slam Championship 2022
SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, Accra Mall
FRIDAY 30, DECEMBER 2022
7:30 PM

What has Poetry Slam got to do with us? Is there a reason for us to care about the World Poetry Slam Championships, the Africa Cup of Poetry Slam, the West Africa Slam Competition and the freshly initiated Ehalakasa National Slam Championship? What are the answers to these time-bound questions and who among us will do us the honors in providing answers? Do these poetry slams have what it takes to raise the red, gold and green from below the flagpole to the place of glory and honor? Do we have what it takes to search, uncover, develop, empower, promote and sustain a slam subculture in Ghana?

Does slam have the capacity to reach the level of National Math and Science Quiz (NSMQ)? Can poetry slam generate the same kind of anticipation; bring traffic to the media, corporations, stakeholders and the general public, when the season is birthed? Can poetry slam feed the slammer? Will poetry slam be able to take the slammer on a trip for tournament? The hard but honest answer to all these weighty questions are yes, yes and yes it can. Three yeses, to three round, within three-minute of poets-tree at a poetry slam is all it takes to start the word war revolution in Ghana.

Poetry Slam is a revolutionary movement, competitive poetry performances, a kind of groundbreaking space and a catalyst for change across generations. Slam is the only space mandated with the privilege to allow even the blind to see the “ice” in the “voice” of the voiceless. Slam is taking over that which has longed to be over taking by light and or by sight. Slam is the answer to the question no one was willing to ask. So here, is the question, why not slam now?

Without paths and roads there are no use for maps and navigators. Without map and navigation, one cannot go out in search for the world and new grounds. This is the challenge to go see the world, this is the season to break new grounds, this is the time to slam and be slammed at the Ehalakasa National Poetry Slam 2022. The search for a national slam champ to represent Ghana at the next Africa Cup of Poetry Slam and the World Poetry Slam Championship in Brazil 2023 is here. After three (3) different power-packed slam preliminaries in June, August and October, the stage is set for the grand slam Friday December 30, 2022 at the Silverbird Cinemas inside the Accra Mall. The night we have all been waiting for, the night to witness the lyrical bout that will determine who leads Ghana to the world in words, rhyme, sound, light, color and power. The nine (9) finalists slamming on the night include Afi, Nura, Baby Poet, Faiba, Chessed, Wiseborn, Briana, Jewell King-Speaks and Nana Kuffour. Let the battle begin.

SLAM RULES
The slam is a three (3) round healthy competitive performance where poets perform their originally written spoken word pieces before a live audience to be judged by five (5) randomly selected audience members as judges on the scale of one to ten (1 – 10).

For this particular slam, two (2) professionals with good knowledge about poetry slam will be invited to assist in judging.

After each performance, slam master will drop one (1) high score and one (1) low score then add up the three (3) scores in between to make up the total score for the performance. This will make 30 the highest score.

Each piece or performance must be within 3 minutes. Slammer has a 10 seconds grace period after which one (1) point will be deducted from slammers total score.

No props are allowed (no music, no costume, no use of any object apart from your body)

30 seconds singing allowed but no instrumentals

We are so excited to see you all at the Silverbird Cinemas, Accra Mall on Friday December 30, 2022.

Ehalakasa, It lives in us!