Andrew Galan is a big fan of the old rules of poetry slams that revolve around two little words: so what?
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"You won a poetry slam, so what? You lost a poetry slam, so what?" the founder of poetry slam competition BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! says.
"There are other things happening in the world and the poetry slam can be an important personal milestone but it shouldn't necessarily be the marker for you to work out if you're succeeding at life or not."
That being said, the poet who takes out the Canberra National Poetry Slam will go on to perform at the Australian Poetry Slam at the Sydney Opera House.
Returning to Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres for the fourth year running, the Canberra National Poetry Slam celebrates Canberra's vibrant spoken word and poetry performance scene.
Despite its small size, the capital has always had strong representation in the finals, boasting past winners Omar Musa (in 2008) and CJ Bowerbird (in 2012).
However, Galan says the main thing someone should get from a poetry slam is the experience of taking part, which is not just limited to those on stage.
Some of the best poetry slams Galan has been to have been the ones where audience members are also weighing in.
"Not only do you have it voicing its opinions about the poems, but you've got the audience voicing their opinions on what the judges are saying as well," he says.
"There's this real interaction with everyone in the room which you don't necessarily get at other poetry events where people clap politely at everything that happens.
"In a poetry slam because you've got judges - and because you don't know what those judges are judging the poems on and you don't know what their criteria is for what they enjoy, it's very subjective - it can be full of surprises.
"I enjoy that openness about a poetry slam and the encouragement that your opinions are just as valid as everyone else's on what's going on."
BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! has been running poetry slams in Canberra for more than a decade.
In that time, Galan has seen numerous people go from being an active member of the audience to getting up on stage to perform their own work.
"It doesn't take long to make the transition from yelling stuff from the audience to performing your work from the stage," he says.
Some may have even had the chance to be chosen as a judge.
At each poetry slam, five judges are chosen from the crowd - all spread around the room, of different age ranges and from diverse backgrounds.
They don't even have to have any experience with poetry to take part.
"Personally, I prefer it if they're not poets," Galan says.
"Do they need to like poetry? If they hate poetry then that's a challenge - what would bring them to a poetry slam I don't know - but there is no criteria to be a judge."
- The Canberra National Poetry Slam will be at Gorman Arts Centre's Main Hall on Saturday from 7.30pm. Tickets are $10 from agac.com.au.