The much hyped all-Welsh final between Cardiff and Swansea may never have taken place at Wembley after all this year, but instead of football, poetry fans were once again treated to an all-Welsh event. The second Oxslam – a poetry slam in aid of Oxfam – was won by Swansea, in an event which, it is hoped, will now be a regular fixture in poetry’s annual calendar.
Four competitors from Swansea battled it out with four from Cardiff at The Vault, beneath the No Sign Bar in the winning team’s home town.
There was drama as the West Wales team initially announced that one of their team had not turned up. However, clothed in a long cloak, Nathan Thompson did show up for Swansea just before he was due on stage. He impressed judges with an impressive poem featuring an amusing array of “nonsense” words, before marching out of the venue once again. His theatrics were definitely one of the highlights of the night.
The three judges, whose names had not been disclosed prior to the event, were Phil Carradice, editor of Roundyhouse magazine, who represented Swansea and judged the poets on quality of performance, Ivy Alvarez, a published poet from Cardiff who judged the quality of writing, and a third judge who stepped in at the last minute after the neutral judge had had to cancel with just days to spare. Organiser of the event, Nick Fisk, had not been able to find a replacement judge with so little time, so on the night had invited a member of the audience to step up and be the judge of the audience reaction. When none of the audience raised a hand, Tim Gold, a TEFL teacher, and volunteer on the night, stepped in, and ultimately played a significant part, by scoring the home team, who were cheered loudly throughout the night, well.
But there were no sour grapes on the part of the Cardiff team. Four different competitors had won the trophy for Cardiff when the event was held in Koko Gorillaz in Cardiff last year, but this year, despite putting up a strong defence, this year’s Cardiff team captain, Nicholas Whitehead, had to concede defeat. It was left to co-host Becky Lowe, who is one of the organisers of the popular Swansea poetry event, The Crunch, to award the Oxslam trophy to Wood Ingham and his triumphant team. The team intend to keep the trophy at the venue for The Crunch, Mozart’s in Swansea, and even spoke of placing in it the burnt remains of the four wooden spoons which were awarded to the losing Swansea team last year!
Despite a lower attendance than in 2010, and once again some minor hiccups, as last year, mostly evolving around a projector, overall, the event was adjudged by all to be successful and enjoyable. Up and coming poet, Tom Miller of the losing Cardiff team said, “This sort of thing has changed my outlook on life massively – I can’t stop writing!” All money raised, including money from a raffle on the night, is being donated to Oxfam.
Further event details visit http://www.oxfam.org.uk/Oxjam/Info/Event/Oxslam2011
