Aargrove noted that the North Carolina poetry circuit is
distinct from that of his home state, New Jersey, because it is less
competitive—or at least competitive in a family-like way.
“Everywhere from Fayetteville, all the way to Charlotte, all the way to Asheville and Durham and Greensboro—our entire poetry community is like family,” said Ronald Aargrove, a Greensboro resident who competed in the finals on Saturday.
Saturday’s competition started just before 9 p.m., lasting three hours in total after three complete rounds of poetry competition. Starting with an audience of about 50, at least one-third of the attendees were still present to cheer on the finalists at the end. As is typical of most of the slam competitions throughout the year, poets were eliminated in each round before the winners were crowned after the third and final round.
The format reserves space for two out-of-town poets to compete, which were filled Saturday by Sha’Condria Sibley and Tarriona Ball, two visiting New Orleans artists who go by the names of “iCon” and “Tank,” respectively. Both are former National Slam champions.
Most of the monthly competitions are open to anyone more than 16 years old, with the exception of regional qualifiers and the Erotic Poetry Slam in February. Some past themes of slams have also been “Holiday Spirit” and Women’s History Month.
There was no theme for Saturday's event—other than that all the participants had already performed well in other contests—and the subject matter was varied, sometimes including singing, rapping or wild gesticulations. First lines of poems included, "Dance," "I am a lesbian," and "You're not crazy if you talk to yourself."
Four poets were announced as the new Bull City Slam Team at the end of the night, but not before "iCon" brought the audience to its feet in applause with several original poems and songs.
Lauren Bullock, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been slamming competitively for more than two years and was a member of the Bull City Slam Team this past year after previously participating at the college level and at UNC.
“It’s a different kind of dynamic,” Bullock said of the Bull City Slam events. “In general, I think it’s a very tight-knit community.”
She noted that college slam poets tend to focus more exclusively on college-related issues in their writing and slamming. She has noticed that the individuals at Bull City Slam are more varied in their backgrounds and the kinds of topics they cover.
Bullock performed three poems Saturday, one using a lion attack as a metaphor for sexual assault, before being eliminated in the final round.
Von Bellows, a graduate of Elizabeth City State University, said he is originally from Washington, D.C. and “got wind” of the poetry slam from his work in the college circuit. He also made the final round of the Grand Slam Finals.
“Their environment is very welcoming, and that's one thing that brought me back every time,” Bellows said.
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