DU’s new Slam Poetry Club hopes to give budding poets a venue for being seen, heard and appreciated.

Jose Guerrero, the club’s leader, describes the student-run organization’s mission to make people more aware of slam poetry, and therefore more inclined to involve themselves with it.

“Slam poetry is a style of poetry where poets compete with each other for the highest scores,” he said. “We are a group of students seeking to provide DU students with a constant open mic where they can express themselves artistically in an environment where they feel safe.”

The club is currently comprised of 10 members and welcomes anybody to join them on their weekly ventures to the Mercury Cafe, located at 2199 California St., where there is no entrance fee. The weekly event is held on Sundays at 8 p.m.

“We take trips to the Mercury Cafe so that our poets can begin adjusting to and personalizing the slam style,” said Guerrero.

The club has high expectations and has set great goals for the emerging poetry scene within the university. As the year progresses the club – with the help of Professor and poet David J. Daniels, will focus more on creating events such as the organization’s own slams.

“We also plan to organize a team to send out to the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI), the college national competition,” said Guerrero.

For the poetry-lovers, the Mercury Cafe also holds open-mic poetry readings every Friday at 10 p.m.