Welcome to Hungarian slam poetry!

Have you ever heard about slam poetry? Would you like to learn about the Hungarian and European scene? Then, let poetry, theatre & rap music unite as one.

By Definition

As Encyclopædia Britannica describes, slam poetry is “a form of performance poetry that combines the elements of performance, writing, competition, and audience participation.” According to Funzine, it draws back to the 1980s when Chicago-based poet Marc Kelly Smith, aka ‘Slam Papi’ felt the need to bring poetry closer to people. He organized a weekly poetry event (predecessor of today’s poetry slams) where poets would perform their work live to be judged by five randomly selected members of the audience on a scale of 0 to 10. The poet who got the highest scores won the competition.

Slam poetry is a bit like rap music with its colloquial language use and ordinary theme choices, a bit like theatre with its pre-rehearsed texts and the human body as a tool of expression, and a bit like poetry with its rhymes, metaphors and similes.

As for 21th century poetry slams, they are pretty much the same as back in the eighties. Today there is only one strict rule: the poet (or group of poets) only has three minutes to recite, argue, entertain, amaze and make you think.

Slam Poetry in Hungary

The poetry slam movement in Hungary began in 2006 with Budapest Slam, the battle of poets and rappers. A year later it was organized again with international guests coming to Hungary for Budapest Slam 2. In 2008 poetry slams were monthly held at Kőleves. The same year Slam Poetry Budapest (SPB) was established, assigning a theme for every occasion, launching a 10-word poetry slam competition and giving the opportunity for amateurs to take the stage as part of an open mic.