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The Black Oak Tavern, located on 14 Water St., has been serving the citizens of Oneonta since 1974. In addition to hosting a variety of musical acts, it is a certified slam venue for Poetry Slam Inc., hosting the Oneonta Poetry Slam. Since 2005 the Black Oak has annually sponsored a team that competes at the National Poetry Slam Championship.
In 2007, Team Oneonta was disqualified for allowing members of the Knoxville team to perform a team piece in Oneonta's slot during the team's second bout. For this, they were nominated for, and awarded, the Spirit of the Slam Award. To find out why, check out Adventures in Austin Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Also, team member Sierra ranked 40th - out of hundreds of poets - as an individual competitor.
Slam Season, Team Selection and Replacement Info
The Black Oak Tavern holds six competitive Oneonta Poetry Slams each year. The open competition features a first round of 12 poets performing once each. The field is then narrowed to three for a second, final round of one poem per poet, with the order reversed. The poet with the highest cumulative score wins. The top two poets qualify for the end of season Grand Slam, and in the event of repeat top-two performances, the next highest scoring poet will also qualify.
The Grand Slam will feature three rounds of 10, 7 and 4 poets, respectively. The order is reversed each round. The top four poets will qualify as members of the Oneonta Poetry Slam Team, and the fifth-place finisher named an "alternate." In the event a team member cannot attend the National Poetry Slam, the next highest scoring poet at the Grand Slam will be asked to participate, and so on down the line.
In the event a replacement still cannot be found, there would be a last chance slam of poets who competed during the season, but didn't qualify for the Grand Slam.
All slams will abide by PSi rules and regulations.
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