Vic Slam Team takes 12th at CFSW 2010

Wow. We're home again after a whirlwind week at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW) in Ottawa (www.cfsw.ca).

CFSW Expands
This was the first time in CFSW history that there have been 18 teams competing from all over the country, including new teams from Guelph, Edmonton, Burlington and Petersborough. That meant that there were two venues for Ottawa fans to choose from.

We counted that we've each seen roughly 200 poems this week. That's a lot of inspiration. My personal favourite was the Saskatoon Love Poem by Saskatoon's Slam Master Charles Hamilton.

Victoria Slam Team
Our team pulled first in the first bout Tuesday night - a tough spot. But they had the perfect poem - a team piece called, "We didn't come here to win" that woke everybody up and got a lot of laughs. Matthew Christopher Davidson also dropped a brand new poem, "Believer" about struggling with your faith that brought tears to my eyes. Although the team finished in 4th place (out of 4) that bout, they did very well.

Their second bout out Victoria brought it with well-polished and beautifully crafted poems, including two team pieces "a DJ saved my life" by Steve Thompson and "Soldier" by Matthew Christopher Davidson. The team cleaned up taking a 2nd and losing to the veteran team Up From the Roots who went on to be in the semis.

Victoria finished 12th out of 18 teams - another strong finish for Victoria.

Experience
My favourite moment was definitely the Geek Showcase where all participants shared their nerdiest poems and we all laughed so hard we cried. I think the best part of CFSW is not the competition it's the community.

Next year CFSW will be held in Toronto. Can't wait!