Slam poetry makes its debut at CMU this fall. This form of poetry has been around for roughly 30 years, but is very obscure and generally unknown to most college students.

It’s a form of writing and artistic expression that more people should know about, and isn’t just something that poet snobs can get behind. Now at CMU, thanks to the efforts and hard work of freshman Dalton Telschow, a slam poetry club has been started on campus, offering students a taste of something they’ve never experienced before.

“Slam poetry is basically spoken word poetry,” Telschow explains. “It was started in the 1980s by a guy named John Smith up in Chicago, and he was basically just tired of all the people who used overly deep metaphors in their poetry.”

Telschow is new to “the game,” as he calls it, but is passionate about it.

“My senior year, my buddy and I were having our morning cigarette before school started. We were just driving around, and he asked if he could read me a slam poem.” Telschow said. “I had no idea what it was, but I let him read it to me. I had to pull over. It was incredible.”

After that morning car ride, Telschow was hooked.

Telschow is not new to writing poetry though. Earlier in high school he had written more traditional poetry, but never thought of performing it.

Going through a laundry list of rough spots in his life, Telschow finds motivation and fuel to keep his visions of bringing slam poetry to CMU. Last summer, after graduating high school, Telschow moved out of his adoptive parents’ home and went on to find and meet his biological parents.

“At first it was awkward,” Telschow said. “You don’t know how to act around them, but after a while it felt normal. It was great.”

Living with friends between the move from his adopted to biological parents, coupled with going to the Aurora movie theater two nights before the July 20 shootings, gave Telschow a new perspective on life.

Going forward, Telschow has great plans for the new slam poetry club.

“It can be what ever people need it to be.” Telschow said. “It can be a creative writing workshop, because it presents challenges and can help students grow in their writing. It can be their introduction to a new form of poetry. It can be artistic. Or it can even be just something else to do rather than sit in their dorm rooms or go out and party. They can come work on slams.”