This year’s poetry is On Fire!!

On Fire!!, Rider’s literary journal that celebrates African culture, hosted its second annual poetry slam on Saturday, Oct. 2.

After a tough audition process that cut the group of 65 down to 14, the chosen poets were given the opportunity to share their poetry in front of an audience of their peers and a panel of judges. They were critiqued by nine predetermined judges and three randomly selected audience members on a scale from one to 10, with scores based on stage presence, creativity and originality.

Only three of the 14 came out with prizes in hand. Jeanette Beebe won first place with a poem about her mother’s reaction to her shaved head, earning $500. In second place was Samantha DeVeau, who won $75, and following her was Ambar Gomez, who received $25.

Senior Rance Robeson, editor-in-chief of the magazine, described the show as emotionally charged.

“It made you cry. It made you laugh. It was definitely one of the best shows I feel I put on here at Rider,” said Robeson.

The show was hosted by Carlos Andres Gomez, with intermission entertainment provided by comedian Trev Houston and D.J. Wess Will.