Poetry SLAM Founder Visits Belarus

U.S. Speaker Marc Smith conducts a master class for ELPS-2010 finalists

The audience and participants of the Belarus’ second English Language Poetry Slam, aka, ELPS-2010, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy on October 8, were privileged to welcome in Minsk Marc Smith, an American poet and founder of the poetry slam movement.  Mr. Smith kindly agreed to emcee a Grand Finale of the poetry competition that brought together 20 finalists of different ages, professional and social backgrounds from all over Belarus. In his welcome remarks addressing the audience, Embassy Cultural Affairs Officer Patrick Fenning noted that “we’re very happy to have all of you here to celebrate the freedom of self-expression and to demonstrate your talents.”  The jury, consisting of poets, literature faculty and random audience members, faced a challenging task of selecting the best presenter who would successfully combine outstanding lyrics with unique poetry performance.  After two rounds of a tough competition, Elena Kovalevskaya was announced a winner.  All Grand Finale participants received special prizes provided by the Embassy Minsk and Marc Smith.

Mr. Smith visited Belarus within the framework of U.S. Speaker Program.  Other events with his participation included guest lectures on “The Birth of Slam Poetry and Its Evolution into a Worldwide Social, Literary and Cultural Movement” for  students and faculty at the Belarusian State University, Minsk State Linguistic University and Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts and library professionals at the National Library of Belarus; workshops on “Performing Poetry and Public Speaking” at Minsk Regional Library named after Pushkin and Polotsk City Central Library; round table discussion with Belarusian poets, creative writers and literary critics on “The Evolution of Poetry and Poetic Presentation;” and master class on “Performing Poetry” for ELPS-2010 participants.