The rhythmic words of Canada’s finest slam poets sent laughter and chills through the two-storey Dominon-Chalmers United Church Oct. 16.

But it was the last poem of the night, Carleton University student Chris Tse’s “I’m Sorry I’m a Christian,” that had the crowd leaping up from their pews to give the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word one final standing ovation.

Tse’s Ottawa-based team Capital Slam emerged as national champions after the five-day event.  

“Something they say always touches me. . . . I always feel like I’ve learned something about myself,” said Carleton student Priya Shah, minutes after the show.

The poets slammed about a wide range of topics, from world problems such as environmental issues, poverty, war, and discrimination to the delights and challenges of love, family and sexuality.  

Slam poetry is a spoken art that is written, memorized and then recited in a style unique to the performer, according to the festival’s media and communications director Greg Frankson.

According to the event’s website, the five-day festival was the largest poetry slam event in Canada.

This year’s event also included spoken word workshops and guest speakers.

Eighteen poetry teams travelled from major cities across Canada to the nation’s capital to recite their rhythmic word art.  

In slam poetry competitions, five judges are chosen randomly from the audience and poems are judged on a scale of one to 10.

The two teams with the most points at the end of four rounds of performances moved on to the next night.  

By Saturday night, four teams were left: Montreal, Burlington, and two Ottawa teams, Capital Slam and Urban Legends.   

The final night of competition was held in the Dominion-Chalmers United Church in front of an audience of about 600.

“This is by far the largest poetry event that we’ve done in the city,” Frankson said.  

At a slam poetry event, audience members are encouraged to voice their approval or disapproval of both the performance and the judging by snapping their fingers or booing loudly.

After the final scores were announced and Capital Slam won the national title, people flooded the stage to congratulate the poets.

“It is pretty overwhelming,” said Capital Slam’s team captain, Tse, minutes after receiving his first place award.

The Capital Slam team, consisting of Tse, John Akpata, Brandon Wint, Prufrock and Ikenna “OpenSecret” Onyegbula, are all Carleton students or alumni.

Tse’s final poem criticized Christianity for what the poet said he  considers its hypocritical nature and violent history.   

“It’s not a poem I do for points,” Tse said, adding that he was, in fact, a Christian.  

“It’s a poem I do because it’s a real apology . . . and it just happened to be in a church, a very beautiful church,” he said.

“I thought it was an interesting choice. I feel like it was a really strong way for Capital Slam to finish it off, knowing that they needed a solid performance to assure themselves the title,” Frankson said.

Sharing the human experience and opening minds to new ideas and world issues is the main goal of spoken word, Frankson explained.

“It’s just amazing to watch a couple hundred people walk out of a room with their minds exploded,” he said.