Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Registration is open for the auditions for the First Citizens National Poetry Slam (FCNPS) 2020. This year the audition process will take place over five locations spread out over two weeks.  

FCNPS Coordinator and 2 Cents Movement (2CM) Chief Operating Officer Atiya Douglas said, “FCNPS 2020 marks the culmination of the 10th year of the Bocas Literary Festival, and this year we are looking to the past to help generate our shared future. This year’s theme is Slamageddon! In a time of competing crises, such as failure of leadership, economics of scarcity, environmental collapse, a breakdown in human relationship etc., art and creativity have been proven to challenge and thereby change how we think, act and approach the world and each other. Poetry and art here present a possibility of saving the world. Drawing from the popular 1998 science fiction (SciFi) movie, Armageddon, we have re-envisioned the idea of regular, blue-collar workers saving the world to regular spoken word poets saving our perspective of the world, in particular here in T&T, by using poetry to detonate the aforementioned threats.”

She said the theme follows current trends of revisiting past beliefs and practices as a way returning to our authentic selves amidst modern problems. “In narrowing to Trinbagonian culture and history, we have noted that the first asteroid to hit us in this part of the world was Christopher Columbus. The First Peoples did their best to stave off the crises of the new world and we have therefore dedicated our auditions to some of the First Peoples’ tribes. Poets, destined to save our future, will have to hold true to the indigenous ways of the twin-island, thus re-indigenising our society in order to restructure and reframe our future using traditional methods. However, the theme is SciFi-based, so history is closely intertwined with fiction and a futuristic outlook throughout the whole narrative.”

Douglas said last year, the team witnessed an elevated standard of work from the auditions all the way through to the finals, “which speaks not only to the effort put in by the poets but also to the work done by the Bocas Lit Fest and the 2 Cents Movement with youth in schools in creating this national platform for spoken word poetry. This year, we are looking forward to seeing how far the poets of this nation can push the envelope with the topics they tackle. We are hearing a lot more new voices coming out and we are just excited to hear what those voices have to say, particularly in these times of climate change and global political and social developments.”

The auditions will take place at: True Talk No Lie, Stages, Ariapita Avenue, on January 12 and 18 at 5 pm; East Yard, Prince Street, Arima on January 19 at 5 pm; One Mic, Black Pearl Bar & Grill, San Fernando, on January 23 at 8 pm; and, The Next Chapter, Apex Bar & Grill, Canaan, Tobago on January 26 at 7pm.

There is a $30 registration fee to be paid within two days after registration, either at the Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair, Port-of-Spain or through a First Citizens Bank branch, account number: 2329295. A maximum number of 40 contestants per venue will be accepted. The audition rules and registration form are available at http://2centsmovement.com/fcnps-2020/

Admission for audiences is $60. For further information, call 229-7555 or 289-1595, or find FCNPS 2020 on social media at: Facebook – National Poetry Slam – Trinidad and Tobago (@fcnps); Instagram – @nationalpoetryslamtt; and Twitter – @NationalSlamTT.