The Austin Poetry Slam is a weekly event that showcases 12 amazing and original spoken-word artists in a no-holes barred, raucous, energized competition. That's right: we assign scores to art! 

For the complete story visit AustinSlam.com 

There's pride on the line, ego on the line, and $100 in prize money EVERY WEEK to the top three poetrs of the night.

But how do we judge poetry? Easy, we hand out scorecards to 5 judges randomly selected from the audience. The judges give each poet a score on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0. The scores are added up and the poets with the higher numbers advance until three poets are left in the final round.

The poetry slam is all about the audience. So we encourage audience members to cheer for the poets/scores they like and boo the poets/scores they hate. The audience's job at the Austin Poetry Slam is to try like hell to influence the judges.

This isn't your grandma's poetry reading. No snapping, no Frenchy berets, and certainly no polite golf claps. This is rock and roll, hip hop, dance, theater, comedy, and poetry wrapped into a tight, 3-minute package. 

The Austin Poetry Slam is easily the best non-music show in town. And frankly, it's better than a bunch of the music too. I mean, what else are you gonna do on a Wednesday night? Watch The Gilmore Girls. Nope, you're going to grab a friend, head down to the Scoot Inn, find a comfy seat, order a drink, sit back and be shocked and awed by the words you hear. Heck yes.