Not so long ago, you couldn't pass a coffeehouse without hearing someone professing their private joys or fears to a willing and/or captive audience. At its peak, the Def Poetry Jam-driven craze for slam poetry created a generation of syntax sex symbols, chief among them LA's Shihan, slam champ and director of this year's inkSlam. Along with eight teams battling it out for cash and prizes, workshops are offered to sharpen a wordsmith's tools and business acumen — all leading up to Saturday's big finale.