Hyper Bole Competition Rules
Sponsors and students must arrive by 10:00 am on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at George Mason University’s Johnson Center. The adult sponsor must be present with each participant to register.
Students must remain on GMU campus and may only leave with permission of teacher.
Every registered poet must have a minimum of two poems prepared for the day. The two poems used for the initial two-round preliminary bout may be used again in the two-round Grand Slam Finals, assuming the participant advances.
Poets have 3 minutes to perform with a 10 second grace period. Going over 3:10 results in a 0.5 deduction from total score per 10 seconds starting at 3:10 (i.e. 3:10=-0.5; 3:20=-1; 3:30 =-1.5; etc). The time starts at the first utterance after the poet says her name, school, and poem title.
Poems must be original and of the poet’s own construction. NO PLAGIARISM allowed, or it will result in disqualification.
Poets may NOT use any props, costumes, or musical accompaniment (this can include mentioning and touching clothing or jewelry; we will explain).
Good sportsmanship is required. Booing or trying to sabotage another poet/school is unacceptable.
The poets will be judged by three audience members on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0. This means that the highest possible score is a 30. Unlike traditional poetry slams, however, the scores from the preliminary bouts will not be announced to the slam’s participants and spectators immediately following each poem.
Profanity and hate speech are prohibited. Poets cannot use profanity (including the n-word), sexually explicit content, and/or language that degrades any group of people. Violation will result in a 1.5 point deduction from the poet’s total score; potential disqualification; and scorn from the host, organizers, and parents.
Food and drink may not be consumed in the GMU lecture halls. Bottled water is permitted.
Memorization of poems is not required, but highly recommended. All poets, however, are not allowed to physically hold a piece of paper or handheld device while performing; doing so will result in a 1.5 point deduction and/or potential disqualification. If a poem is not memorized, it may be placed on the music stand we provide, and poets will not be penalized by the judges for doing so.
There will be 5 or 6 preliminary bouts Saturday. Five or six bouts will be taking place simultaneously from 12:00–1:45 p.m. and the Hyper Bole Finals will take place from 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Before each preliminary slam, the bout manager and will draw numbers to determine the order of the two-round slam. This order will be reversed in the second round of the bout.
The top two scoring poets from each preliminary bout will advance to the Grand Slam Finals at 6:00 p.m. Again, unlike traditional poetry slams, the scores from the preliminary bouts will not be announced to the slam’s participants and spectators immediately following each poem; the scoring from the preliminary slams will be done silently. The finalists will be announced at the beginning of the Open Mic in the afternoon.
The winner of the Hyper Bole Finals will be awarded a scholarship prize! This scholarship will be awarded upon the winner’s high school graduation and may be used for any post-graduate activities or needs.