Poetry Slam is a team at Niles West that meets every Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon. The first 15 minutes of the meeting usually consist of catching up with the members and chatting. After that, there’s a free write that the sponsor, English teacher Paul Bellwoar, prepares every week. If everyone is intrigued by what’s coming out of free write, they’ll explore it. If not, then they’ll branch off and work on solo pieces and/or group pieces. The team will write them, polish them and practice delivery.

Poetry Slam is vital for the Niles West community because there are no clubs that can compare to this one. Their goal as a team is not to share misery but to improve their writing. “What we create is intended to be funny, emotional, meaningful but never outwardly depressing or obscure,” senior Anthony Avram said.

“This year, there’s been less emphasis on solo pieces since Louder Than A Bomb, the regional poetry slam, was canceled. In previous years, by February, we’re usually forgoing the free writes and practicing solos or group pieces every meeting,” junior Dharma Delahanty said.

Throughout their time together, the team works on solo poems for the regional poetry slam competition Louder Than A Bomb. They perform their poems live on stage and get scored by judges to advance in the competition. They are either working on their pieces with the help of their coach or are practicing and performing them.

“Mr. Bellwoar helps create a nonjudgmental environment, so nobody is afraid to get their ideas out and try new things to help create pieces. I also like the community outside of our own group,” junior Anastasiya Lukan said.

They often do this process over and over for hours until they get the poem just right. They also take advantage of their time together and use the space to share thoughts and feelings on pretty much anything in life. They come together to share their experiences and stories that are worth telling. The benefit of telling them in that space is that they can create personal and authentic pieces that no one has heard before.

This year, there was an informal slam on May 4, but the date wasn’t official until late February and early March. As a result, for most of the year, the team worked on writing for the possibility of there being a slam. However, they all enjoy writing for the fun of it, so they didn’t mind one bit.

Many local schools got together for a Slam via Zoom and there were about 30 participants in total!