Topics

1

General Discussion / The 2006 NPS Anthology !?!?

« on: November 18, 2008, 11:38:15 AM »

Howdy.  This is Aaron Enskat, former Slammaster/Host of Normal, IL.  I am going to be writing my Vita and getting ready to apply for some teaching jobs in the next month or two, and I was wondering if the 2006 Anthology is ever going to get published.  If not, I will not put it on my Vita, but if it is, I would like to be able to use it. 

On a seperate note, if it is not, that is sad.  What are the reasons the anthologies were always so far behind, and why have they now become defunct.  I thought that they were brilliant ideas, and created a space for the genre to continue it's fight for mainstream credibility as both an art form and a literary movement.  If there is something that can be done to get it back on it's feet, I think that should be done and I would certainly like to help.  I know other poets who also have been willing to help, and could contact them to.

Thank you very much.  Look forward to hearing back from you.

Aaron Enskat
Former Slammaster/Host of Ear Candy: The Normal Poetry Slam

2

General Discussion / Normal Slam is for sure booking, y'all!!!!!!

« on: September 06, 2008, 11:50:10 PM »

Hello everyone.  Aaron Enskat here!  I am no longer hosting the Normal Poetry Slam, but I am going to help our fresh faced new host do his booking this year.  His name is Corey Schultz, and I think he is going to be fantastic.  He is going to keep doing the show on the second and fourth Wednseday of every month.  If you are going to be coming through the Illinois/Midwest area, then feel free to send me an email at aaronenskat1@yahoo.com for booking info. 

Our first show is this coming Wed, Sept 10th.  From then on out, we are looking for features! 

Hit me up!  I miss you all! 

3

Slam Selection Processes / Ear Candy: The Normal Poetry Slam Selection Process

« on: August 17, 2007, 02:36:37 AM »

Ear Candy:  The Normal Poetry Slam
2nd and 4th Wed of the month between Sept and May (dependent on the students schedule)
The Coffeehouse
114 E. Beaufort St, Normal, IL, 61761

The Selection Process for Normal has changed a bit for the upcoming season, and is as follows:

1.  Performers will acquire points throughout the Slam season.

2.  It takes a total of 10 points to qualify for the Slam Off.

3.  The Slam portion of the show consists of two rounds.  The first round, everyone signed up for the show reads and is judged by three random audience members.   
     The top two scores then end the show with an impromptu Head to Head Haiku Death Match based on a spurious topic of dubious origin...

4.  First Place in the Slam earns 5 points.  Second Place accepts 3 points.  Anyone who slammed gets 1 point, and is happy for it!

5.  The second show of each month is a Themed Slam.  It is not required that you write a poem that fits the theme, but if one chooses to, then they recieve 1 bonus
     point to their Qualification Total.  We feel it is important to constantly foster the writing process, and reward literary daring accordingly.

6.  Furthermore, anyone who is involved with the show that night (Open Mic'ers, Features, Mandolin Players, Gamma Phi Acrobatics, Hosts/Guest Hosts {by which we
     mean MC's/Guest MC's}, or any other possible performance our lovely lil scene can muster) also gains 1 point towards qualifying for the Team Finals.  Our justification 
     for this is that anyone involved in making our show happen is important to the show itself, and giving them the chance to try out for the team at the end of the year
     is a bonus we will gladly offer to anyone who is consistently setting aside their time and talent towards making Normal the slam that everyone seems to enjoy so much.

7.  Everyone with 10 points can be in the final.  Depending on how many qualify and then show up will change the way we run that particular show (of course, meaning
     the Slam-Off), but it will be an endgame for those who have earned their way onto the stage, and at least two rounds of official competition in that delicious slammy
     setting we all know and love will occur, and four people will stand triumphant at the end, secure in the knowledge that finallly, they have proven that their art is
     quantifiably, if not qualitatively, better.

8.  In the unlikely instance that less than ten people acquire the necessary points to try out for the team, then the finals will include those with 9 overall points.  Then 8. 
     And so on and so forth ad naseaum amen.  A minimum of ten will try out, unless there are less than ten people that care or are inclined towards such beautifully
     abstract silliness.  Then we will do our best to make sure that the ones that do show up have to struggle mightily to reach that heady plateau of victory, or the
     slightly less heady plateaus of first to third runners up of victory.

I sincerly hope that this is transparent enough.  If there are any questions, comments, concerns, or quibbles, please contact our lovely and vivacious Slammaster, Aaron Enskat, at his earliest possible convenience.