After many long weeks of writing and practicing, 10 performers will take to the stage this Friday in the largest and most competitive poetry slam on campus: The Grand Slam.

Put on by WU-SLam and Washington University Pride Alliance, this year’s Grand Slam will also showcase a Grammy-award winning artist, Mary Lambert, who is known for her appearance on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ single “Same Love.” Lambert will be performing her own music and poetry as host of the event.

Over the course of this year, the poets have been honing their skills at smaller slams each month. The Grand Slam brings together the top two performers from each fall slam, as well as two wild-card performers, to compete in Graham Chapel. The stakes are high as the winners will represent the University in the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational this spring.

The event will bring together poets from all across campus, all of whom have different backgrounds and topics to discuss.

“The first time I did slam poetry was at the pre-orientation ‘Louder Than A Grenada,’” Grand Slam participant Sam Kim said. “I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. I never knew that I would become so passionate about slam.”

Other performers, like junior Maxine Wright, started performing poetry in high school. For some, like junior Hana Hartman, these slams are an opportunity to share their writing and voice. After privately writing poetry for some time, “College was the first time I thought about sharing it, let alone performing it,” she said. Hartman began slamming her freshman year. Now, as a junior, she has the chance to showcase her talents in front of a large audience.

Senior Sam Wein’s success story is similar. After writing throughout all four years of college, he only started performing slam poetry as a senior. The slams allow students to discuss topics that are important to them, whether it be a war prison in South Africa, like for Wein, or Alzheimer’s disease, like for freshman Andie Berry.

Each participant has prepared three poems for the event. The first round will have the poets performing in a random order, followed by a second round in order of descending score based on scored from the first round. The third round consists of the top six performers from the first two rounds, after which the winners will be announced.

“As has been said at every slam I’ve attended,” Berry said, “the point is not the points—the point is the poetry.”

Whatever the outcome, don’t miss out on seeing these talented students perform, with Mary Lambert hosting as a bonus.

The Grand Slam takes placed in Graham Chapel on Friday at 7 p.m. Tickets are free. Bring your Wash. U. ID, but if you are planning on bringing a non-Wash. U. guest, email his/her name to [email protected].