Join The University of Mississippi’s Library Ambassadors as they sponsor their second annual Library Ambassadors Poetry Slam tonight at 7 p.m. in the Union Ballroom.
This year’s poetry slam will feature a couple of new elements. A DJ will play music between the contestants, and there will be more interaction with the audience through a “group poem.” The group poem will be used as an activity while the judges deliberate over the winners and as a chance for the audience to interact and create poetry of their own with the people sitting at the same table as them.
“We hope to accomplish a successful poetry slam. We want to have a great turn out for audience members as well as participating poets,” said Jessica Marshall, president. “There is a lot of interest just like we had the first time. A lot of people are excited to attend.”
Thirty contestants competed in last year’s poetry slam, and this year there should be forty contestants, according to Amy Gibson, faculty advisor for the Library Ambassadors.
This year’s judges will be comprised of faculty members from the English department and from the Department of Writing and Rhetoric and include: Chiyuma Elliott, assistant professor of English; Derrick Harriell, assistant professor of English and African American studies and Emily Cooley, instructor in composition and rhetoric.
Prizes are supplemented by the J.D. Williams Library and include prompt notebooks to jump start writing and gift cards to Square Books and Walmart.
“The poetry slam is planned to encourage student creativity and give students a chance to read their poems out loud and to an audience,” Gibson said. “This slam is a good draw for students to come see what the Library Ambassadors are and to encourage students to consider joining the Ambassadors.”
Library Ambassadors is a group made for students by students and was designed to create a direct line of communication between faculty administrators and the student body. The poetry slam is just one example of how the Ambassadors represent and promote the library around Ole Miss and at campus events.
Marshall said she expects this slam to turn out well, maybe even better than the first one. The Library Ambassadors will also be hosting two more events this semester: Art Night and Pet-A-Pup.
The Poetry Slam is free for all students and graduate students who attend the main campus or satellite campuses and will be loaded with poetry, free food and prizes. Students can sign up to participate at the Library Ambassadors’ table in the Union, in the library or or by emailing Marshall at jdmarsha@go.olemiss.edu.
