The winner generally receives money or prizes. A traditional reading, on the other hand, is more impersonal. A podium divides the reader from the audience. Jami Macarty, organizer of the annual Tucson Poetry Festival, said the April 4 festival will be conducted according to National Slam rules, though some of the more stringent rules will be omitted. Some people say there's a big difference between the two, and I'm interested to see if that's true.
Obscenity can be a vital part of slam poetry readings.
Slam lends itself to anger and passion - and can be a forum for poets to release those emotions. In slam, there are many guidelines, but there is no censorship as there is in the university setting. I know that there are people from the academic setting coming to slams. There may not be such a large gap between the communities. We live in a very entertainment-focused world.