MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – Lubeznik Center for the Arts (LCA) will host its annual First Friday Poetry Slam on Friday, April 5, 2024, from 5 to 8 p.m. Central.

Readings will begin at 5:30 p.m. with audience members acting as judges for this raucous and friendly showcase. Admission is free, and all are welcome to cheer on the performers, explore LCA’s art exhibitions and enjoy the cash bar and complimentary light refreshments. LCA’s Poetry Slam provides performers of all walks of life with an excellent platform for sharing their original works or favorite poem of another author. 

Marc Kelly Smith, the founder of the Poetry Slam movement, will host the event. As stated in the PBS television series, The United States of Poetry, a "strand of new poetry began at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern in 1987 when Marc Smith found a home for the Poetry Slam." Since then, performance poetry has spread throughout the world, exported to over 1000 cities large and small. In 2020, Smith was knighted into the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Cultural Ministry and received the Key to city of Tours, France for his work with Ligue de Slam France.

This year LCA's Poetry Slam will have a new format. It will begin with an open mic inviting performers to share their original poetry or favorite poems by other authors. Next, audience members will have the chance to become a poet themselves with a fill-in-the-blank poem, themed for the occasion. The slam will conclude with the Dumb Rhyming Word Game, made famous at the Green Mill. The winner of which will be crowned as this year's LCA Poetry Slam Champion.

"This is a fun opportunity for local poets, from novices to seasoned performers, to showcase their work in a really creative, supportive environment," says Janet Bloch, LCA's

?Executive Director.

Poets interested in participating in LCA's Poetry Slam should prepare poems under three minutes in length and register by contacting Jessie Sexton at 219-874-4900 ext. 107 or jsexton@lubeznikcenter.org. Spots are limited, so call or email today!