Sian Robins-Grace

Slam is the new sex, at least according to its latest protegée Oxford's Sian Robins-Grace.

"Poetry is to slam what making love is to fast and furious stand-up clothes-on sex in an empty train carriage at three in the afternoon," she says.

"You've got three minutes to get it all out, so you just get stuck right in and hope you finish before you reach Ludlow. The main difference is that at a slam you're doing it with a room full of people."

For those of you still in the dark, the phenomenon of poetry slamming has been growing internationally since the 1980s and Sian, pictured, describes it as a cross between hip-hop, rap and poetry.

Slammers get up on stage and compete against each each other for the best slam poem, judged by a live audience.

And tomorrow, at 8pm the UK team of hot young slam poets will embark on the first ever transatlantic poetry slam competition, with Oxford and New York going head to head, live on the Internet.

It's fast, it's furious and Sian, 22, who will be competing, loves every minute of it. So how did a nice young Oxford University girl like her get involved?

"I saw a female slam poet at a festival in South Park in 2006 and thought it was the best thing I'd ever seen. I went home, wrote a poem and performed it at the next Oxford gig and I've been hooked ever since," she says. "It's subversive, rhythmic, political, funny, shocking and once you've seen it you'll keep coming back.

"The poems are only about three minutes long but they're so intense that it makes it really exciting to watch. The freshness and self-reflexiveness of slam often gives it an energy and rawness that is breathtaking. It's as terrifying as it is exhilarating."

But although huge in the US, the UK is slower to catch on, and Sian feels that's because there's a lot of a stigma attached.

"Just the term 'live poetry' summons images of people being worthy and pretentious on stage, but this isn't like that because it's so much more alive. It's as good as any open mic night, play or performance," she says.

So take Sian's word for it: "It's cheap, it's always cheerful and as often as not it'll change the way you think about stuff. Sometimes it'll make you want to do it yourself. So go ahead and try it."

The first ever transatlantic poetry slam competition commences at 8pm at Science Oxford, London Place, St Clement's, Oxford.

5:18pm Thursday 6th March 2008

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