Every month Ames Poetry Revival hosts a poetry slam that takes place on the first Tuesday of every month and is always held at DG’s Tap House, a bar on Main Street.

December’s poetry slam was held on Dec. 2. because the poetry slam is held at a bar, all participants and slam goers must be of or over 21 years of age.

The rules of the slam are simple. Each participant must bring two original poems for each round, the poems must not go over three minutes in length, and no props are allowed. Each slam, three new judges are selected and each poet is given a score from one to 10. The points from both rounds are added up, and the highest scores win.

There is usually quite the turn out for the monthly event, but the weather kept December’s slam on the more intimate side with about half of the turn out of the November slam, and only nine slammers participating.

There are always prizes awarded to first, second and third place of the slam, which has ranged from home cooked goods to handmade unique art. Each month new art and a new artist is showcased. This month’s art was supplied by Lindsay Nissan.

Along with the reading, there is almost always a secondary form of entertainment.

“As slam mistress, I’m in charge of organizing the event and helping people sign up. We also always have live music after the show. This month Jym Krow, the drummer from Doctor Murdock, is performing a DJ set that should be pretty awesome,” said Slam Mistress, Haley Steen.

Steen said that there is almost always one or two new people who read each month and that those performances provide the most insight to the person because it is more raw and intimate.

Some attendees who frequent the slams view it as part of their lifestyle. 

Joseph David Soukup, a regular at the slams and November’s host, says that it is rewarding to see how much the scene has changed.

“I’ve been doing this for 12 years now, and it’s really amazing to see how it’s changed. Back when I first started there was only me and one other person getting these shows going. Now we almost always have a full turn out,” Soukup said.

Zach Vreeland, a first time reader, took home first place in November.

This month the winner was Evan Campbell, a slam regular, followed by Alexis Lile in second place. 

Ames Poetry Revival encourages new poets to take the stage and express themselves in a unique way. 

“Just be as real as you can be. You’re always going to be yourself, but when you come here and you get on stage you get the opportunity to be the most amped up version of yourself you can be,” Soukup said when asked about giving advice to fist time slammers. “Don’t hold back, and just let it all out, and see what happens.”