Topics

1

General Discussion / 10th anniversary poetry slam in Omaha tomorrow night

« on: January 12, 2012, 10:15:15 PM »

For you multitudes in the area, Omaha's 10th anniversary of poetry slam at the OM Center is tomorrow (a night earlier than normal this month due to a booking conflict).  We'll have a feature of poets who won here in 2002, show off the new 2012 Golden Monkey trophy, AND make it British foods night with spotted dick for 1st place, mushy peas for 2nd.

2

General Discussion / Sarah McKinstry-Brown wins state book award!

« on: September 23, 2011, 09:38:25 AM »

Sarah McKinstry-Brown, of Albuquerque and Omaha NPS teams, was just announced as the winner of the Nebraska Book Award for Poetry for her book "Cradling Monsoons."

For those who don't know Sarah: she is awesome.  A great writer and a great performer.  So yay!

3

General Discussion / Nice article about slam in schools

« on: March 21, 2011, 08:02:44 PM »

A very positive article about slam as brought to schools by Global Writes in the Bronx:

http://www.edutopia.org/poetry-slam-global-writes

4

General Discussion / Poet Fantasy Football time

« on: August 09, 2010, 08:23:43 PM »

Now that NPS is done, it is of course time for Fantasy Football.  Last year, the league was on Facebook but that app moved pretty slow, so I'm trying it somewhere I haven't used before, NFL.com:

League Name: U Throw Like A Poet
League Website: http://poets.league.fantasy.nfl.com

To allow other managers to join your league, send them the League ID# and Password below.

League ID: 120991
League Password: throwit


All are welcome.  Unless their last name is "Amy David."

-Matt

5

General Discussion / Shane Koyczan on the Olympics!

« on: February 13, 2010, 08:54:23 AM »

I missed it on TV last night but saw all kinds o' notes on Facebook this morning; rock on, Shane!

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Shane-Koyczan-Defines-Canada-At-Olympics-Opening-Ceremony-22864.html

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General Discussion / UrbanDictionary.com definitions of poetry slam

« on: September 23, 2009, 07:53:41 PM »

(Posted by Diona Poff, a fine poet in my community)

Urban Dictionary definition for "poetry slam":

I got a new definition published, mostly pasted from PSi's site. Go vote for it and push the haters down the list. Currently it is def #4.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poetry+slam

7

Slam Selection Processes / Updated Omaha Slam Selection for NPS, iWPS, and WoW

« on: August 29, 2009, 09:05:19 PM »

Updated selection as of August, 2009:

To qualify for the NPS team: the top 3 finishers in the November and January-March poetry slams qualify for the April team finals (note: no poet takes 2 slots: if the January winner wins in February, that slot passes to February's 4th place poet, etc.). Team Finals are 3 rounds and qualifiers all must provide text of their 3 qualifying poems, 2 of which they cannot use at Finals (meaning they will need 5 total poems to make the team). Scores are cumulative in April, top 5 make the team. Ties are broken by either a haiku deathmatch or a 1 poem duel (audience decides by applause which to have). On any team member dropping, the slot is offered to the next-highest placing poet from the team finals. Should that list be exhausted and we need another team member, there would be a special slamoff to determine whom.

Our iWPS representative will be the top-placing participant in the September poetry slam who can pay their way to the event as we cannot offer reimbursement for this event's expenses.

WoW Finals are in December. Our WoW qualifiers take any female poet who wishes to participate provided they live within 60 miles of an Omaha or Lincoln poetry slam venue and have attended at least 2 Omaha or Lincoln poetry slams in the year preceeding the finals. The finals will be run with a special format TBA (determined by the number of participants, 3-7 rounds which include 1, 2, 3, and 4-minute poem rounds).

8

General Discussion / Fantasy Football time again

« on: August 15, 2009, 07:22:58 PM »

So once again, there is a league for slam poets (slam poets on Facebook, at least): Poets & Writers and Nachos!

To join, go to:
http://apps.facebook.com/fbfantasy/league/view/11815019/366583

     Hop on in, all are welcome,
     Matt

9

General Discussion / So...

« on: August 09, 2009, 11:07:53 PM »

...anything good happen at Nationals?

Tell me a story.

10

General Discussion / Poetry Slam articles on America.gov

« on: February 07, 2009, 06:00:42 PM »

Yes, the government digs the slam.  Well, some in the government do!

Here's a small bit from a longer article that's at:
http://www.america.gov/st/arts-english/2009/February/20090205154536maduobbA1.569766e-02.html&distid=ucs


     Young Belarusian Poets Impress at First English Language Slam
     Slam seen as a symbol of free expression
 
     By Meghan Loftus

Ithaca, New York — The written word came alive as young poets from across Belarus participated in the first English Language Youth Poetry Slam in Minsk on December 10, 2008.

Writing about love and her desire one day to have children, Kate Nuprejchik, an English teacher, won the Grand Finale special prize. “Love is something very magical,” Nuprejchik said. It’s also the subject of her poem, Comes and Leaves, about a one-sided love, which she wrote when she was a teenager.

“The years have passed more than ten/No need to cry — he’ll come again. And nothing’s left for her but wait/To open him her wide soul-gate,” she wrote in the poem.

For Nuprejchik, performing the work was a new experience. “The poetry slam was really something very exciting and thrilling. I’ve never participated in such a competition. It was full of interesting and unknown emotions,” she said. And although it was a competition, Nuprejchik felt comfortable getting up in front of the hundred or so audience members who had gathered to hear 42 poets perform their work. “It was carried out in the spirit of partnership and cooperation,” she said.


The article also links to another pretty sweet 2006 article on slam called "Poetry Slam Rocks Literary World" at:
http://www.america.gov/st/arts-english/2006/March/20060313182415cpataruk0.5137751.html

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General Discussion / What brought us to the poetry slam and why it's worth staying

« on: December 20, 2008, 10:20:17 PM »

The first poetry slam I ever saw was almost ten years ago, in the town of Wayne, Nebraska.  Since then, I've seen hundreds of slams around the country, been a slammaster for 7 years, been inspired and disillusioned and inspired and disillusioned like some ping pong game of one vague descriptive term vs. another vague descriptive term.

And the past year, my energy has been low.  My slam picked a team for Nationals, then didn't send it.  I've competed about once, have memorized just one poem, have felt less interested and inspired than at any point in the past ten years as I watched competitions too easy to win with manipulation rather than art or thoughtful social commentary, young writers dishing out sloppy "poems," things like that.

Last week, though, I went to Belarus, a former part of the Soviet Union called by many "Europe's last dictatorship" to run a poetry slam and speak to students for the State Department.  (Yes, I am working for the government, somewhere in Providence a poet is already working on the poem calling for me to be torn down; make it good, my son or daughter!)  I don't say this to brag; I realize my resume in publishing and performing is not shabby but, well, luck had a lot to do with this: saying the right thing to the right person at the right time, that sort of thing.

Why I bring it up is, well, I saw this amazing poetry slam.  In Belarus.  In the former Soviet Union, in Europe's last dictatorship!  The poets did not call out "Mr. Lukashenko, tear down this wall!" or anything like that, but they did offer up their voices in expressing what is important to them and to their lives, and they did it well, in a second language, no less, in a society known for people not standing out. 

And the students I talked to and read to were just like many American students from a few years back... folks who write poetry, who like poetry, but would rather watch paint dry than go out to a poetry reading.  For them to see what the poetry slam offered was a nice kick in the pants, and when I left there were already 3 more poetry slams in the works, maybe more by now.

It reminded me how my gripes about slams isn't the fault of the poetry slam; Marc Smith's original vision is still revolutionary, is still amazing, and is still spreading the art of poetry to far more people than would ever be exposed to it had the poetry slam not come into being, coaxing young writers and listeners with it's saucy sexy flash, and inspiring many to keep with it, to look deeper at the poets inspiring the poets who inspire them.  Because the audience, you know, is important.  Even in a country where they seem to have huge statues of poets all around the capitol (Pushkin, Kupala, Kolas, Bahdanovic, and more), people still need to be reminded of this.  The poet gots the statue but, as Whitman remarked, "To have great poets there must be great audiences too."

The poetry slam is an amazing thing, and sometimes we need to be re-reminded of that.  To see that poet we write off as emotionally manipulative as, well, someone rewarded by the judges and maybe we should work harder to bring in features who do more to inspire what we'd hope to see inspired AND to lead by example with the poems we ourselves bring.  Or that young poet dribbling cliches is, well, a young poet who will get better, especially if we run our slam in a constructive way, offering help and support to folks.

So yay, Marc Smith.  Yay, all who've come since, whether well-known and well-rewarded or not but who bring life to your poetry and make your communities better by your efforts, bringing audiences together and helping those poets around you bring themselves to higher levels.

Maybe someday we'll build a massively ginormous statue of you in the city square.  Or, if not, may the mark you leave on audiences and poets be equally as impressive.

12

Slam Selection Processes / Updated Omaha Qualifying for all PSI Events

« on: November 10, 2008, 09:01:19 AM »

Updated selection as of November, 2008:

To qualify for the NPS team: the top 3 finishers in the December-March poetry slams qualify for the April team finals (note: no poet takes 2 slots: if the January winner wins in February, that slot passes to February's 4th place poet, etc.). Team Finals are 3 rounds and qualifiers all must provide text of their 3 qualifying poems, 2 of which they cannot use at Finals (meaning they will need 5 total poems to make the team). Scores are cumulative in March, top 5 make the team. Ties are broken by either a haiku deathmatch or a 1 poem duel (audience decides by applause which to have). On any team member dropping, the slot is offered to the next-highest placing poet from the team finals. Should that list be exhausted and we need another team member, there would be a special slamoff to determine whom.

In Omaha, we choose our IWPS poet by taking the top 2 finishers in October and the top 2 (who were not in the top 2 in October) in November and have them face off in a 4-person 7-round December slam with 3 3-minute, a 1-minute, a 2-minute, a 4-minute, and an improv 3-minute round where the 5 judges vote not 0-10 but 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place for the round. Lowest score wins the round and gets 10 points. 2nd lowest score gets 2nd in the round and gets 4 points. Time penalties add 1 point to your round total for every 10 seconds past the deadline. If time goes 1 minute past the deadline, the poet places 5th in the round. This only affects in case of a tie where the poet's average place in each of the 7 rounds plays in. If THIS is a tie, it goes to a haiku deathmatch. If the winner cannot attend IWPS, the slot is passed to 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th place. If all 4 cannot attend, we do not send a poet.

Our WoW qualifiers take any female poet who wishes to participate provided they live within 60 miles of an Omaha or Lincoln poetry slam venue and have attended at least 2 Omaha or Lincoln poetry slams in the year preceeding the finals. The finals will be run with the same format as the IWPS finals.

13

General Discussion / Do you know any poets in Belarus?

« on: November 03, 2008, 11:40:10 PM »

I'm helping the U.S. Embassy in Minsk with a cultural program... a poetry slam, of course.  They've got an open call for poets to participate in a poetry slam in Minsk on December 10th.

They ask for poems to be submitted early to the embassy, all entries will be wittled down to 20 competitors... so if you know anyone in or around Minsk, pass them this link for details: http://minsk.usembassy.gov/elyps2008.html

     Yay, slam,
     Matt

14

Slam Selection Processes / Omaha WoW selection process

« on: October 21, 2008, 09:06:12 PM »

Once per year (at our November 2008 slam, this year, competing for 2009 WoW), we take any women who sign up provided they have been to 2 previous Omaha or Lincoln, NE registered slams and agree they believe they can make WoW if they win.

Our format for the Finals:

Round 1: Regular (3-minute time limit, all times have a 10-second grace)
Round 2: 2-minute time limit
Round 3: Regular
Round 4: 4-minute
Round 5: Regular
Round 6: 1-minute
Round 7: Cover round (any poem, any poet (except your own work), no time limit)

Rotation will go:
1: ABCD
2: BDAC
3: DCBA
4: CADB
5: ABCD
6: BDAC
7: DCBA   

Scoring: 5 judges will score 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place each round.  Not numbers 1-10, just 1, 2, 3, 4 (no ties allowed!).  Low score wins the round, the goal is to win as many rounds as you can.   High and low marks do get dropped, leaving the middle three.


Time Penalties: For every 10 seconds over time (and grace), 1 point is added to that round's total (so if the judges give you a 1st, a 2nd, a 1st, a 3rd, and a 1st, that leaves you a total score of 4 after the top and bottom scores are dropped. Each 10 seconds over then adds a point to that 4).

You automatically pull 5th place in a round if you go 1 minute over time in any round (yes, for the Regular rounds, that means at 4:00 not 4:10). A 5th place finish only affects you in case of a tie-breaker at the end of the night.

In a separate Final Score tally, you get (and, in ties, all get full points, even if the top 2 scores are a tie, the next score (technically 3rd place) gets the 2nd place score as their score is the 2nd highest:
   +10 points for first in a round
   +4 points for second in a round
AND you get extra-penalized for time penalties:
   -1 point at Time (+ grace), Time + 20 seconds, and Time + 40 seconds
   -4 if you hit a minute over the time limit (so -7 total at that point).

This Final Score tally determines the final results.  The judges scoring determines just those rounds.

15

General Discussion / Poetry on the radio

« on: February 10, 2008, 09:52:27 PM »

A few months ago, I asked for any info on poetry radio shows as Sarah McKinstry-Brown has a new CD out.  I figured I should share the results for any others looking to get your words out:

Poetry Radio Shows

Wordsalad, a weekly radio program of contemporary and postmodern poetry and spoken word.  Wordsalad airs over WSUM FM in Madison, Wis., and streams at www.wsum.org.  I would welcome any copies of Wordsmith Press CDs for air on my program.   www.wordsalad.wordpress.com
   Paul Alan /  pabaker55@sbcglobal.net
   Wordsalad
   WSUM FM
   4409 mineral point rd
   madison WI 53705

Poetry radio program Wednesday afternoons on Co Op Radio 102.7 FM in Vancouver from 2-2:30pm PST. 
Our shows are a mix of live interviews and pre recorded material.  If you like you can send a cd to RC Weslowski  1-1218 East Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 2B1.  And that goes for anyone else as well. --Randy

The Poet VS. Radio Show (Boulder, CO), Every Tuesday @ 6:00 PM
Ted Vaca: tedvaca759@hotmail.com:  1550 penn. st #27 den. co. 80203

Liz Straight from Florida has a poetry show thats on every saturday night....11pm to 12am est.
hit her up at www.myspace.com/lizzstraight and listen to the show on the internet at www.wmnf.org.

Jeff Robinson, a radio DJ at WMBR 88.1 FM in Cambridge, MA. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  I host the show "Poetry Jam" which airs every Thursday from Midnight to 2am Friday morning:
   Jeff Robinson
   Spoken Word/Comedy Rep
   WMBR Radio
   3 Ames Street
   Cambridge, MA. 02142
   comedy@wmbr.org

JPCRADIO PO BOX 104 Ruby VA 22545-0104 attn: P.Gregory.
Broadcasting every Wednesday from 5pm-6pm est on WMJB Majic 107.7 FM Lake City Fl.
KCEP 88.1 FM (NPR) - Las Vegas, from 2pm-3pm pst
Host and Producer of JPC RADIO streaming on www.jazzpoetrycafe.net/ www.im4radio.com

Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour
http://www.kdvs.org/shows/view/show_id/108
   dr.andy@kdvs.org 
   Attn: Andy Jones   
   KDVS 90.3 FM
   ATTN: MUSIC DIRECTOR
       14 Lower Freeborn
       Davis, CA 95616

Linda DiFeterici and Keith Roach, internet broadcast,  Eadon's Place, currently airing on Live365 featuring poetry and spokenword. here is our website, check it out,  http://www.eadonsplace.com
We are always looking for new material to add to our library and accept unsolicited submission all year long.    Our broadcast is multi-lingual, uncensored and licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESCA.  Our mailing address is:
DiFeterici-Roach
PO Box 309
Paulsboro, NJ  08066

GotPoetry.com has an internet streaming radio station.  It goes 24/7.
http://www.gotpoetry.com/Radio.html
Use the contact form there to contact us for where we can download your tracks and we'll gladly play your  poetry and poetry with music.

Weekly poetry show on the radio at KXUA-FM in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  The show is podcasted at
http://highonwordsradio.blogspot.com/
You can contact Doug at dougshields1977@yahoo.com

A monthly (during the shcool year) show on KBeach.org, broadcast out of CSULB (Long Beach, CA). It's  the first Friday of the month, 10 pm, and is aired as part of The Prime Spot Radio (a weekly show focusing on local music).  I also reviews poetry CDs for Poetix.net.
You can send CDs to:
G, Murray Thomas
127 Bennett Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90803