At the risk of coming across as an utter vulgarian, I confess the words "poetry reading" have never particularly made my heart go pitter-patter.

But after listening to Missie Peters' improvised poem, I'm rethinking my stance.

She's a member of Tongues of Fire, the performance poetry team hosting (and competing in) the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. The national event happens in Victoria Nov. 10 to 14.

Peters recently dropped in to the Times Colonist offices to chat about the festival, which is open to the public and sounds rather fun. We spoke in the newspaper library, a.k.a. "the morgue."

A highlight of the festival -- and one that Peters enthusiastically recommends to the neophyte -- is the Erotica Show at the Victoria Event Centre at 11 p.m. on Wednesday. Being unfamiliar with this sort of thing, I asked for an explanation. Peters said the show will showcase poetry of the tastefully erotic variety. Then she improvised an example, using a refrigerator as a random subject:

"I grasped the handle," said Peters alluringly. "Smo-oo-oth."

"Oh, I see," I said, nervously dropping my notebook.

"And cold," she continued. "I pulled and opened. And inside ..."

"Great," I said, dropping my pack of Chiclets. "I really get it now. Oh golly. No need to continue."

Admission to the Erotica Show is just five bucks. It's hosted by Sheri-D Wilson, a semi-legendary Canadian poet (the so-called "Mama of Dada" ) who's a driving force in Canada's spoken word poetry scene. Co-hosting is Regie Cabico, an American who has performed spoken word poetry on MTV.

At the festival's heart -- and also highly recommended to the public by Peters -- are the nightly poetry slams. A poetry slam is a competition in which poets recite their work into microphones. These performances are then rated by selected audience members who hold up placards.

Don't go expecting some effete type in a tweed jacket stabbing the air with his pipe to emphasize salient points. These performances, usually featuring young writers, are energetic affairs, promised Peters. Hence the name "slams." Poetry slams may be the literary world's equivalent of an indie rock show. It's a party atmosphere. Alcohol will be served.

"You have to perform," Peters said. "There's a reason we're doing this on stage with lights."

The poetry slam nights include DJs, live music, auctions and sketch-comedy screenings. They happen at the Victoria Event Centre every night at 7 p.m. Admission is a mere $7, except for the Nov. 14 finals ($12 advance, $15 door).

Sixty performance artists representing 12 Canadian teams will compete in Victoria. Peters said to underscore the uniquely West Coast flavour of this year's event, there will be a daytime yoga poetry session.

"While people are in yoga poses, the instructor will read poems," she said.

The poetry slam phenomenon is said to have begun in 1984 at Chicago's intriguingly named Get Me High Lounge. The philosophy of the founders, said Peters, was that poetry should be available to the blue-collar crowd as well as middle-class academics. It's all-inclusive. With this in mind, in Victoria there are open-mic showcases for female, aboriginal and "queer/transgender" poets.

For a full rundown of the festival, taking place mostly at the Victoria Event Centre and Alix Goolden Hall, visit: wix.com/cfsw09/poetry. Or Google the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

Peters said there's huge interest in the festival, judging by the number of phone calls she has fielded. Surprisingly, many people not only want to watch, they're also interested in doing performance poetry ... at least, down the road.

Peters is thrilled to bits.

"That's the reason I'm doing this," she said.