Frankfurt is hosting several championships in October. The best Latin and ballroom dancers in Hesse will gather at the dance sports club Schwarz-Silber to determine their champions. And a few days later, Timo Boll, Ma Long, and others will compete at the Süwag-Arena in the Höchst district for the title of World Table Tennis Champions – along with a prize pool of $800,000 for the winners.

Meanwhile, my personal favorite event is happening this week – at the English Theatre, Elfer Music Club, International Theatre, Church of Saint Peter, Volksbühne, and finally – the grand finale – at the Metropolis Cinema near the Eschenheimer Turm: the U20 Poetry Slam Championships. This is a competition featuring 60 young poets who share a "common, peculiar hobby" (quoting the organizers' website) and rap live a cappella.

For those unfamiliar with Poetry Slam, let me share a "classic." It's from Harry Baker, a young poet and mathematician, and goes like this: "My name is Harry Baker, Harry Baker is my name, if your name was Harry Baker, then our names would be the same."

Simple. Yet most notably rhythmic. Rhythm is the heart of Poetry Slam, rhythm and passion in delivery. In essence, Poetry Slam is like Rock'n'Roll without musical accompaniment. It's the modern continuation of what had become an entry in the annals of literary history as Sturm und Drang 250 years ago.

This is one of the reasons why Frankfurt is the perfect venue for the U20 Slam Poetry Championships. Frankfurt is not just the city of bankers but also the city of poets. After all, two of the greatest – if not the greatest – German poets lived in Frankfurt. Johann Wolfgang Goethe, initially a Stürmer, then a Dränger, and later a classic, was born as the grandson of Frankfurt's "Schultheiß" (a kind of village mayor) Johann Wolfgang Textor in a small alley called Hirschgraben and spent his youth around Römer and Liebfrauenberg. And Robert Gernhardt, often quoted in many circles as frequently as Karl Valentin, Mark Twain, or Oscar Wilde, moved from Berlin to the Main region in the 1960s and was one of the founders of the Neue Frankfurter Schule.

"Wie? Soll ich fliehen? Wälderwärts ziehen? Alles vergebens! Krone des Lebens, Glück ohne Ruh, Liebe, bist Du!" ("How? Should I flee? Head towards the forests? All in vain! Crown of life, bliss without rest, Love, it's you!") – what Goethe scribbled in his notebook in 1776 under the title "Rastlose Liebe" ("Restless Love") could very well have a chance at placement in a Slam final this week. Except for the small flaw that Goethe was already seven years too old for the U20 category at that time. Poetry Slam belongs to young people. It's akin to platform diving: the ideal competition age is between 16 and 18 years.

Robert Gernhardt also encapsulates much of what today's audience loves about Poetry Slams. "...- fertig ist das Mondgedicht" ("...- done is the moon poem") is probably not only one of the shortest poems in literary history but also a masterpiece of rhythm. And for anyone reading Gernhardt, be it written or slammed, it becomes evident that poems ideally conclude with a punchline: "Ich leide an Versagensangst, besonders, wenn ich dichte. Die Angst, die machte mir bereits manch schönen Reim zuschanden." ("I'm full with fear of failure, especially when I rhyme. This fear has ruined poems oh so many moments.")

Therefore, the poets will once again take the stage in Frankfurt this weekend – at the slam. As for why this term, which is typically used for doors being forcefully closed, was chosen as the name for poetry competitions, Harry Baker, who frequently performs at these events, has an explanation: "Poetry Slam is an event format that was developed 30 years ago in the United States as a way to get people to attend poetry readings by putting an exciting word like 'slam' at the end."