Call for Entries

VERSI DI LUCE 2017 – POETRY SLAM

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Rules approved by LIPS (Lega Italiana Poetry Slam)

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1. POETRY SLAM The Cinema and Poetry Festival "Versi di luce 2017" announces the VERSI DI LUCE POETRY SLAM (a poetry competition recognised by the Lega Italiana Poetry Slam and valid for the regional finals), which will take place on 25 March 2017.

2. PARTICIPATION The competition is open to all poets, of any age and from any country, who present texts written by themselves, on any subject and in any style, in Italian, in an Italian dialect or in a language spoken in Italy.

3. ENTRY TERMS Entry is open and free of charge. To enter, send an email to versidiluce@hotmail.it with the subject line "ISCRIZIONE AL VERSI DI LUCE POETRY SLAM 2017", including the following details: first name, surname, place of origin, personal email address and personal website, if any. The call for entries closes on 20 FEBRUARY 2017.

4. PRESELECTION The Versi di Luce Slam Poetry has a limited number of places, with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 participants. Should the number of entries exceed this limit, the following preselection procedures will apply: A) from 13 to 30 entries: a live preselection will be held, in which each poet reads a poem of their own (maximum reading time 1 minute), without head-to-head bouts, in order to draw up a ranking. The 12 poets who receive the highest scores from the audience jury will go through to the VERSI DI LUCE SLAM POETRY. B) more than 30 entries: a further preselection will be held, following a personal notice by email inviting entrants to complete their entry (by sending the poem to be read at the preselection together with a short biography)- The organisers reserve the right to admit 30 poets to the preselection.

5. EXCLUSION The organising committee reserves the right not to admit to the competition any works that fail to respect the seriousness of the Festival.

6.THE COMPETITION The competition will be hosted by one or more EmCees (Masters of Ceremonies). While a text is being performed, neither the audience nor any of its members may deliberately cause a disturbance, unless active participation is requested by the competing poet. At the start of the competition, the EmCee, or a non-competing poet chosen by the EmCee, will perform the sacrifice by reading a text in order to warm up the audience and install the jury, informing the audience of its responsibilities and explaining to the judges what theirs are. The competition consists of 4 rounds: Stage I: the six winners of the head-to-head bouts and the two highest-scoring poets among those eliminated will go through to the next stage. Stage II: the four winners of the head-to-head bouts will go through. Stage III: the two winners of the head-to-head bouts will go through. Final: a bout between the two winners of the head-to-head bouts.
The order of performance for the first round will be drawn by lot. The order of the following round(s) will be decided by the EmCee. The jury will be changed between rounds. The use of musical instruments or pre-recorded music tracks is not permitted. Each text may be performed only once during the slam. Costumes and props are not allowed.

7.JURY The audience jury will consist of 5 people drawn by lot from the audience by the EmCee. The EmCee will check whether the randomly drawn juror is in fact related to, or a close friend of, one or more of the competing poets. If so, the EmCee may replace the juror by drawing or choosing another. In its vote, the jury will be asked to weigh and combine both the quality of the text and the performance aspects of its delivery. The jury's decision is final. Complaints, problems and/or disagreements concerning the impartiality of the judges must be brought privately to the attention of the EmCee before the start of the match. After hearing and understanding the complaint, the EmCee will make a decision, which cannot be further challenged.

8. ABSENCES If a finalist is absent for any reason, and if the organisational schedule allows, a substitute will be appointed from the ranking of the slam from which the absent competitor qualified. Travel expenses for participants will not be reimbursed.

9. SCORING The audience jury will award scores from 1 to 10, with or without decimals, at the EmCee's discretion; the highest and lowest scores will be discarded, and the sum of the three middle scores will determine the score of the poem performed.

10.TIME LIMIT AND PENALTIES Each performance in the final bouts must last no longer than 3 minutes, during which the competitor may perform one or more texts. Once the 3 minutes have elapsed, beyond a 10-second grace period, penalties of 0.5 points are applied according to the following scheme: up to 03:10 no penalty 3:10:001 - 03:20 -0.5 points 3:20:001 - 03:30 -1.0 points 3:30:001 - 03:40 -1.5 points 3:40:001 - 03:50 -2.0 points and so on [-0.5 for every 10 seconds beyond 03:10] The time penalty will be announced and mathematically deducted by the EmCee or the scorekeeper only after all the judges have given their scores. The 3 minutes will be timed from the moment the poet begins performing the text. The EmCee may ask the competitor to begin performing their competition text if the introduction goes on for too long. Four minutes after the start of the performance, the EmCee may, if deemed appropriate, stop the poet even if the text has not been completed. Poets presenting texts not in Italian but in an Italian dialect or in a language spoken in Italy may, on request, read an Italian translation of the text outside the 3 minutes of competition time. In this case, the reading of the Italian translation will not count towards the jury's vote. The EmCee will announce the jury's scores to the audience only when all the jurors have voted and raised the small boards or score sheets provided.

11.TIE-BREAKS Should one or more tie-breaks occur, competitors must have reserve texts. The vote deciding the winner of the tie-break may be cast, at the EmCee's discretion, either by the jurors or by the audience.

12.INFLUENCING THE JURY AND AUDIENCE BEFORE THE START OF THE MATCH Before the match begins, poets may talk to anyone in the audience except the judges, if these have already been chosen. Neither before nor during the competition may any competitor, when it is not their turn on stage, draw the audience's attention to themselves in order to win its favour. Poets who break this rule will receive a warning from the EmCee. A further violation will result in a two-point penalty for the competitor.

13. CHANGES TO THE CALL FOR ENTRIES The Festival organisers reserve the right to amend this call for entries due to force majeure or in order to improve it, always in accordance with the LIPS rules; any changes will be promptly communicated to participants.

14. ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES Participation in the Competition implies full acceptance of these rules. 15. AWARDS The winner of the Versi di Luce Slam Poetry will go through to the regional final