THE OTTAWA VALLEY TO PICK THE FIRST RURAL TEAM TO COMPETE IN THE CANADIAN FESTIVAL OF SPOKEN WORD

Three years ago, Danielle K.L. Grégoire and The Capital Poetry Collective, the team responsible for Ottawa's Capital Slam, helped to introduce Slam Poetry to the Ottawa Valley. Since then Grégoire has moved to Almonte, and with the help of bookstores and businesses around the Ottawa Valley has started up a slam series of her own. It began with one workshop a month ad then the qualifying slams traveled from town to town gaining momentum.

"In the beginning I wasn't sure if the slam poetry thing would take(in the Ottawa Valley). There seems to be a misconception that spoken word poetry is an urban art form, when in truth, spoken word belongs to everyone and anyone is capable of writing and performing it. This has been proven over and over by the poets who have attended the rural slams."
-Danielle K.L. Grégoire (the humm, June edition)

After three months of slamming in the Ottawa Valley, 10 finalists have been selected to compete in the Rural Slam Poetry Finals. Interestingly enough, in contrast to the male dominated Ottawa scene, the competitors in the rural slams have been mostly female. The rural slam poet contingent is made up of various age groups, and experience levels.

Four people will win the right to represent Lanark County, and be the first rural team to compete in the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

We have competitors from Almonte, Carleton Place, Perth and Smith Falls.The calibre of poetry is high, and the contestants predominantly female. This is in interesting contrast to the urban Ottawa scene in which the competitors are mostly male.

Hosting the evening will be CBC Radio's Adrian Harewood and Alan Neal. There will be five celebrity judges to give scores to the delicate art of spoken word, and a surprise feature performance.

Come on, Come all. Celebrate the spoken word in Almonte, ON.

It all happens, Thursday, June 26th!
It takes place at the Almonte Old Town Hall in Almonte, ON.
14 Bridge Street
Doors open at 7:30pm, and the show starts at 8pm.
$10 at the door, with proceeds going towards sending the Lanark County team to Calgary in November.
Tickets will be available, the week of the event, at Reads Bookstore in Carleton Place and The Miller's Tale in Almonte.

For more information contact: Danielle at danielle.gregoire@hotmail.com or 613-878-4991