On Thursday, September 2, from 8:15-11:30 p.m. at Circus — part of the Cavern Club complex at 210 South First Street — Krazy Kats will unleash poetic debauchery with a brand new Ann Arbor Poetry Slam, hosted by Lindsay Stone and Lady Vixion.

Because of Ann Arbor's 20-year history in the poetry slam movement, Krazy Kats believes the area is a perfect breeding ground for talented performance poets, and hopes to broaden Ann Arbor's reputation in slam and revive the tradition, with the goal of taking a team to the National Poetry Slam in Boston next summer.

At the upcoming slam, a cash prize will be awarded to the top poet of the night. Sign up starts at 8:15; slam starts at 9.

A poetry slam is a competition in which poets perform original works. Each performance is judged on a numeric scale by randomly selected members from the audience. Typically, a poetry slam is highly politicized, with participants taking on many issues, ranging from current social and economic issues, to gendered injustices, and racial issues. Poets are judged not only on the content of their slam, but also by the manner of delivery and passion behind their words.

Aside from the slam competition, there will be an open-mic for non-slammers and live music performed by Full Dimensional.

For more details, visit KrazyKats.org.