Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

When the Seh Sup'm poetry showcase returned to Weekenz, Constant Spring Road, St Andrew, last Tuesday night, there were significant differences from its initial season which ended in September 2007.

For one, there were no judges assessing the poets. In addition, there was a strong music presence to complement the spoken word.

Clement Hamilton of Root Cause, which puts on Seh Sup'm, told The Gleaner that while the second season has begun, the actual competition has not. "We are starting an open mic segment. The intention is to build momentum, get more poets involved who might not necessarily be interested in a competition but, at the same time, build momentum with the public before the competition starts," he said.

Last week's guest poets were Iyunda, I-Sense and Omaro, with Fuzion and Roderick Wilson among those in the open mic section.

Along with the spoken there was also the sung word, as Donald and Diamara from the band Airplai, Duane Stephenson, Brina and Karan, as well as Infinity and Minimee performed. Hamilton said, "Within poetry, we are blending music and mainstream, but doing an acoustic set, so that a performer comes with a guitar or small drums.

"It lets the audience see the performer without frills. You get singers who can really sing and musicians who can really play," he said. He does not see the music distracting from the poetry, as "what you want to develop is a particular ambience. Each complements the other, music and the spoken word, not necessarily onstage at the same time.

"You are giving the public a chance to see two mediums which have not been given the mainstream spotlight," Hamilton said.

Guest poets

Tuesday's guest poets will be M'Bala, Sage, Latoya Saunders and Jah Shanti, with the acoustic duo Whim among the guest singers. And a Seh Sup'm staple, Steppa as the MC.

Hamilton hopes, too, that there will be another change, as he said, "We hope that corporate Jamaica will come on board." This financial support to ensure a quality production is crucial, as he says "at Root Cause we have a standard for ourselves. We made the promise that if we cannot deliver the standard that poetry deserves we are not going to work with it."

Seh Sup'm starts with recorded music from Afifa and Sawandi, the first performer hitting the stage at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $300, $200 for students with identification cards. To get into the open mic section, poets should simply speak to the MC on the night of the show.

Smile Fact

Over the next two weeks, The Gleaner and The STAR will be running a fact a day on the Gleaner-sponsored Bob Marley tribute concert, Smile Jamaica, to be held on Saturday, February 23, at James Bond Beach, Oracabessa. Read the facts and get a chance to win tickets to the event.

Fact

In December 1976, the legend, Bob Marley, headlined the show at the National Heroes Park in Kingston. Despite being attacked the night before, he bravely and defiantly stepped out and said he would only do one song, but ended up working the stage for 90 minutes. Persons described the atmosphere of that show as "buoyant and positive", so the Ghetto Youths Camp aims to recapture that mood and that feel in the cool hills of Nine Miles this year.