Iowa may not be the first place people imagine when they think of cultural meccas on the cutting edge of poetry. But tonight at the Memorial Union, Iowa State will be able to experience and participate in the next wave of poetry art — slamming.

ISU students will be among the first in the nation to see “Slam,” a new film about the energized style of poetry, being shown free of charge tonight in the Great Hall of The Memorial Union.

Combining poetry and rap, slamming has gained an underground popularity in urban areas such as New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C., where the film takes place.

Slams are “competitions in which poets go one on one against each other using only their words and emotions … to create a potent art form that is part performance art, part word magic,” a “Slam” press release stated.

Arthur Elzy, forums director for the Student Union Board and coordinator of the premier said “Slam” is a coming of age story that “shows you a different side of an urban youth, aside from him being a gang member or working at a fast food restaurant.”

The film tells the story of Ray Joshua, a rapper/street poet victim of a crime-ridden D.C. housing project called Dodge city. Ray is arrested on a drug charge and sent to jail, poetry being the only motivation for survival.

His passion for poetry is magnified when Ray meets Lauren Bell, a writing teacher who recognizes his talent and encourages him to develop it. Poetry becomes the voice for an “often-unheard corner of society,” a press release said.

The showing is part of Network Event Theater, a program in which movies are broadcast via satellite free of charge for college students across the nation.

“Slam” is premiering two weeks before the film is scheduled to be officially released, Elzy said.

One impressive aspect of “Slam” was that it was filmed entirely without a script. “I don’t know how it was done, but I’m curious to find out,” Elzy said.

Despite the fact that it has not yet been released, the movie has received numerous awards, including the 1998 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the Camera d’Or and Audience Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, and First Prize at the Toronto Film Festival.

In honor of the premier, the Student Union Board will host its own poetry slam. The event will take place before show time and is open to anyone, with everyone receiving awards for participating.

Sign up for the poetry slam will be at 6:30 p.m. with the competition getting underway at 6:45 p.m.

Admission is free to both the poetry slam and the film. The slam will take place in the Browsing Library of The Memorial Union from 6:45 p.m. until just before the film begins at 8 p.m. in the Great Hall.

Free admission passes can be obtained at the West Student Office Space reception desk in the Union.