Spoken word poetry makes its voice heard on campus
Emily Glass | Fulcrum Staff
Photo provided by Aruba Mustafa
OTTAWA IS HOME to a vibrant spoken word poetry community. Capital Slam happens twice a month at the Mercury Lounge, Carleton University hosts the Urban Legends Poetry Slam, and plenty of youth and Francophone slams are held throughout Ottawa and Gatineau. Until recently, though, there was no spoken word poetry event on the University of Ottawa campus.
But on Oct. 21, the uOttawa Poetry Slam Club hosted its third-ever open mic night—a bilingual event that encourages poets new and old to come out and share their poetry in a comfortable and accessible environment.
Aruba Mustafa and Alex Jürgen Thumm started the club this past January to build an inclusive and encouraging poetry community on campus.
“I loved performing,” says Mustafa, who is in her first year of common law at the U of O. “I realized that Capital Slam can be a bit intimidating—and for me, I’m obviously pretty new—and I wanted to create a space for people who have performed a little bit or who have never performed, and really just give them a space where they feel comfortable, and to make it accessible.”
Held at Café Alt, the open mic night is a casual affair, with comfortable couches, snacks, and beverages for audience members and poets alike to enjoy. The supportive environment is important to Thumm, a second-year political science student who regularly MCs at the events.
“It’s truly beautiful to see the energy and solidarity we build up,” says Thumm. “Everyone genuinely appreciates everyone’s poems. We have something of an organic atmosphere: no rules, everything is flexible, and any piece—rhyming or not, fast or slow—is welcome.”
Bilingualism is also an important aspect of the club; poems are performed in both English and French at the open mic.
The first event of this year saw 11 poets share their work with a full house. This month’s event was not quite as large—likely because it took place during reading week—but was equally encouraging for new poets. One student performed a poem for the first time ever, and an anglophone student even shared some work in French. The club has plans to keep expanding, including thematic shows and writing workshops held on campus.
“Recently, we’ve started talking about using our open mic nights as a sort of feedback,” says Mustafa. “So if people want ideas or feedback, they can come ask us, and we can make it interactive.”
Thumm says a common question from students about spoken word is whether their poems would be appropriate for the open mic nights. The answer is that anything goes; the point is to get new poets performing.
“Spoken word, for our purposes, defines itself,” says Mustafa. “It’s the words you speak.”
The uOttawa Poetry Slam Club hosts open mic nights on the third Sunday of every month at Café Alt.
