Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

Members of OSlam, Oberlin College’s competitive slam and performance poetry team, gave a show at the Cat in the Cream Sunday night. This slam was an opportunity for the poets to test their new material before heading out to represent Oberlin at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in Philadelphia this week. Oberlin’s CUPSI team, composed of the winners of last semester’s Grand Slam, features College sophomore Zite Ezeh, College junior Sarah Ridley, College first-year Jalen Woods, and OSlam co-presidents College juniors Hanne Williams-Baron and Deborah Johnson. So far, the team has competed in preliminary bouts against Tulane University, the University of Virginia, East Carolina University, Macalester College, Ryerson University, and Stanford University. Depending on the results of those preliminary bouts, some teams will move forward to the semi-finals tonight, and the final bouts will take place tomorrow. This academic year, the OSlam team has been responsible for bringing a number of acclaimed poets like sam sax, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, and Hanif Abdurraqib, as well as hosting events like the Love Slam around Valentine’s Day and publishing the team’s first chapbook, Golden Hour, which featured a variety of original poetry and illustrations.