UPDATE: Freshman Jamie Bikales and junior Rona Wang tied for first in the annual school slam poetry competition held April 7 and will represent Lincoln in the district-wide “Grand Slam,” scheduled for April 20 at the Newmark Theater. Sophomore Maia Abbruzzese is the alternate.

A poetry slam will determine the top two poets who will move on to compete in the fourth annual high school poetry slam, Verselandia. It is a competition against other Portland high schools.

Lincoln’s individual slam is April 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the library.

The Newmark Theatre will be filled with poetry on the day of Verselandia, April 20 at 7 p.m. During the competition, judges will rate the writing and performance of each poem on a scale from one to 10.

National poetry slams have the same rules as Verselandia. The poetry has to be original, under three minutes long when performed, and no props, music or costumes are allowed. Near the end of the two-hour poetry slam, five winners will be announced and awarded prizes.

Tickets for the slam will be available starting at $10.