Most students who have been at UNC Wilmington for more than a semester have heard of our student run literary magazine, Atlantis. Their 73rd issue of the magazine will be out in just 11 days, which made this past Friday prime time to hold their now biannual poetry slam.

Organized and run by the magazine’s poetry editor Carolina Orth, this year’s slam was an obvious success. Due to inclement weather the event was moved from the Kenan courtyard to the Computer Information Systems building, but that didn’t stop 50 plus people from showing up to the event to show their support.

The panel of five judges was peppered with past winners and slam poet aficionados from the Wilmington area. Scoring was on a 10-point scale, with the lowest and highest scores being dropped. The remaining three scores were then added together to create each individual’s score for that round.

“Slams are typically judged by five random audience members, but because most students at our school haven’t been exposed to slam culture, the Atlantis slam is like poetry 101,” said Orth. “Most of my work is bringing in judges and guest performers that are active in Wilmington’s greater artistic community.”

Two of the judges were friends of Orth, Ben Baker and TMi, both of whom affiliate with Mics Wide Open, a group of writers, musicians and artists that run slams and open mics downtown.

Contestants presented original works with passion and finesse, each one different from the next. Creative works on depression, love, family and self awareness were just a few of the topics these participants dabbled in throughout the evening.

Aside from the contestants performing, Orth also organized performances from guests to keep the event moving during judge deliberations and in between rounds. Poets from both UNCW and the Wilmington area came and performed stunning works about love, loss and even ghosts. The event itself gave off a feeling of community and togetherness, with participants on the edges of their seats for the majority of the event.

“Consistency is one way to make a community around something. I’d rather not keep the poets on campus stuck to the quiet corners. So, now that we’re biannual, I want to stretch our idea of what the slam can be,” said Orth when asked about her motivation for putting on the slam.

The Atlantis poetry slam has, until this year, been an annual event thrown once a year rather than twice. This year however, that changed.

“I got to see Mekiya Walters, my predecessor, run the third Atlantis poetry slam in the fall of my freshman year… In drawing nearly 100 people to the 4th slam in fall 2015, I realized that this could be a lot bigger than just a once-a-year happening,” said Orth when asked why the slam had gone from annual to biannual.

Third place went to Alexis Garrett and second place to Leah Becton. The Atlantis Slam Poetry first place winner was Brianna Gervais. All three ladies gave impressive and heartfelt performances.