Poets in the Park details:

$150 in CASH PRIZES!

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Free and open to teens and young adults ages 13 - 19

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Interested participants should register to perform
from 1:00 - 2:00 pm the day of the slam
in the Theater in the Woods

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Bring up to 3 original poems to read
While content is not censored, be mindful
that children may be in the audience

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Free and open to public

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Caponi Art Park's Theater in the Woods [map]

Rain Location: Oasis Teen Center, Eagan Community Center

Spoken Word Master Class

Tuesday, April 22   @   7:00 - 8:30pm

OPEN TO COMMUNITY; ALL AGES
Eagan Community Center [map]
$10 suggested donation
Presented by Caponi Art Park

featuring

Ed Mabrey

2007 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion
Columbus, OH

and

Sonya "The Drama" Boom Renee

2004/05 U.S. National Individual Poetry Slam Champion
Los Angeles

Description

Participants will learn how to write and perform poetry through short workshops led by champions Ed Mabrey and Sonya Renee. Workshops to topics include: Release your Inner Wolverine: How to better your performance skills and Art as Activism: Social change through performance poetry. Participants will also have the unique opportunity to see Ed and Sonya perform their poetry at the Master Class.

Ed Mabrey

Ed Mabrey is one of the most successful slamming poets to come out of Ohio after winning the Individual World Poetry Slam Champion title in 2007 and taking 2nd in the 2004 slam. Ed was a member of the only Columbus team to make it to the semi-finals at the National Poetry Slam. Ed has been a member of and coached several winning Rust Belt Regional Poetry Slam Teams out of Columbus, Ohio. Ed is also a two-time Haiku National Slam Champion, Jazz Slam Champion and Wright State University Champion, three-time ComFest Champion, four-time HotTimes Festival Champion, SlamBush Slam Champion, coveted Green Mill Tavern winner, and two-time winner of the University of Dayton LitFest Slam.

Sonya Renee

Sonya Renee is a performance poet, activist, and educator who is committed to using the power of spoken word to bring empowering and progressive ideas to the public. She has won numerous championships including becoming the 2004/05 U.S National Individual Poetry Slam Champion. Sonya has served as a feature performer in venues across the country, opened for legendary R&B artist Peabo Bryson, and shared the stage with multi-platinum recording artist Floetry. You may catch her at your local open mic or on stage in the Netherlands. Sonya currently lives in Los Angeles and is an all around barrel of laughs.

Master Class Registration

Space is limited for the April 22, 2008 Spoken Word Master Class; please register below.

An email confirmation will be sent to you.

First name:
Last name:
Email:
Phone:

What is a Poetry Slam?

A Poetry Slam is a judged competition where participants read or recite original poetry or lyrics. Poetry slams feature a wide range of voices, styles, cultural traditions, and approaches to writing and performance. This style is known as "spoken word": poems are expressively and rhythmically performed, but not theatrically acted.

Format and Scoring

Poet's read one poem per round and scores are given after each poem. Props, costumes or music are not allowed and a time limit of 3 minutes per poem is generally set. The poet's performance is judged on a numerical scale by members of the audience.

Poets in the Park will be scored on a scale of 1 to 10 by judged by five audience members selected by the emcee. The scores for each round are calculated by dropping the highest and lowest score and adding the remaing scores together. Final scores are calulated by averaging each participant's scores from all rounds. If you only participate in 1 round, then your score from that round will be your final score.

History

The Poetry Slam was established in the mid-1980s as a means to heighten public interest in poetry readings. Since then, spoken word has evolved into an international art form emphasizing audience involvement and poetic excellence.[1]

Construction worker and poet Marc Smith is credited with starting the poetry slam at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago in November 1984. The first National Poetry Slam took place in 1990 in San Francisco, involving spoken word artists from Chicago, San Francisco and New York. The National Poetry Slam currently features approximately 75 certified teams each year, culminating in five days of competition.[2]

Spoken word and the Poetry Slam have roots in urban and hip-hop culture.

2007 Poets in the Park

Check out newspaper coverage and photos from the 2007 Poets in the Park teen poetry slam.

Reference: 1. www.slampapi.com 2. Poetry Slam, Inc.

Poets in the Park Slam Rules:

1. Read 1 piece of poety per round. There will be 2-3 rounds depending on participation.

2. Time limit is 3 minutes per poem. Time limit may be adjusted depending on the number of participants.

3. No props, costumes or music allowed. You may read from a piece of paper.

4. Be creative. Be youself. Have fun with it!

Writing and Performing Poetry

Want to participate but need some help getting started? Here are some tips on writing poetry and how to perform it.

Poetry Writing Tips

• Go some place new or different to write: the unfamiliar often sparks creativity.
• Make observations of the things around you using all of your senses: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.
• Make abstract things concrete. Don’t write about love; write about what love looks like.
• Draft. Don’t go with how the words come out the first time. Play with moving them around, adding, deleting or repeating.
• Experiment with rhyme.
• Write about what you know.

Poetry Performing Tips

• Memorize your poem; it will grab your audience’s attention better if you can make eye contact.
• How do you memorize? Write out your poem several times. Read over it again and again. Memorize it bit by bit, adding more lines until you have the whole thing down.
• Practice the pace, or speed, you recite the poem. Don’t speak too fast or too slow.
• Experiment with inflection and emphasis. What words should stand out?
• Speak loud enough so that all the audience members can hear you.
• Enunciate and speak clearly. You want to make sure every word is heard.
• Practice when you will pause and how long you will pause.
• Will gestures or movement add to your performance or distract you or the audience? If you use gestures, be sure to rehearse them.
• Practice, practice, practice!
• Be confident.