Broken Pencil, Spring 2006
Andrée Lachapelle

"So it goes that in a poetry slam, a variety of writers are invited to show their prowess with words -- live, in front of an audience -- and improv their way to the top. The organizers of Silent Slam switched things around a bit: in April 2005, poets gathered at Toronto's Drake Hotel for a writing marathon. Each poet was given 10 minutes to write brand new material -- from scratch. Each poet had to include a set of words supplied to the writers, on the spot. It was a poetry showdown in which poet Beatriz Hausner emerged triumphant, after her competitors had been eliminated, Survivor-style. Silent Slam is a documentation of this event and a record of the poetry that was created on this fateful evening. Quick and dirty, heartfelt, no-nonsense, Silent Slam, the brainchild of Sandra Alland and meniscus productions, is a celebration of creativity, and a powerful memento of an event I wish I had been there to witness, the first slam around."