Poetry slam competitions are getting bigger and better. But, although the 1998 West Coast Regional Slam will be held on our own turf at Big Sur''s Henry Miller Memorial Library on Saturday, Monterey County residents haven''t yet caught on to slamming. They do, however, read poetry.

Vanessa Dirickson

Age: 20

Resides: Monterey

Occupation: Student

Have you been to a poetry reading or slam? No.

What do you get out of poetry? It helps me realize that other people have felt the way I''ve felt.

Do you think poetry is too stuffy or difficult? No. I think people get out of it what they get. Some people make it stuffy.

Sarah Gadban

Age: 27

Resides: Carmel

Occupation: Student

Which poets do you read? Charles Bukowski, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde.

Do you have a favorite poet? My father. He''s a poet and a musician.

Have you been to poetry readings? Oh yes. I''m from New York and went to many there. I''ve been to a few here too.

Have you been to a poetry slam? No.

What do you get out of poetry? A sense that there are people who question things as much as I do.

Frank Lowry

Age: 44

Resides: Monterey

Occupation: Sales Associate at OSH

Do you read poetry? Occasionally. I''m more for humorous poets: Ogden Nash, Richard Armour.

Have you ever been to a poetry reading? Not recently. There used to be a cafe down by the wharf where they''d serve cider and have readings.

Have you ever been to a poetry slam? I don''t think so. What''s a poetry slam?

Do you think poetry is too stuffy or difficult? It depends on who''s writing. Some of it is a little bit too oblique.

Preston Mullins

Age: 25

Occupation: Unemployed

Resides: Marina

Do you read poetry? I read it if it''s a friend''s or something.

What do you get out their poetry? Insight as to what''s going on in their mind.

Lupe Gutierrez

Age: 21

Occupation: Kelly Temp at McGraw-Hill

Resides: Salinas

Are there specific poets you enjoy? Leonard Cohen. Mostly I got into him because I was into Nirvana''s music and Kurt Cobain was inspired by Cohen.

Have you ever been to a poetry reading or slam? No.

What do you get out of poetry? It''s a way to vent frustrations. Sometimes I write poetry.

Do you think some poetry is too stuffy or difficult? No, not really. When a poet writes something, he writes it for himself. It doesn''t matter how others interpret it.