(view full-size poster) Emceed by Cynthia French: Bio: Cynthia French is a writer and performer from St. Paul. While completing her MFA in Writing from Hamline University, she was developing her talent in the spoken word community. She now has over 12 years of performance experience including awards such as the SASE/Jerome Foundation VERVE Grant for spoken word, a SASE: The Write Place mentorship, and 2006 Individual Minnesota Slam Champion. Cynthia has been to 7 National Poetry Slams, represented Minnesota at the 2006 Individual World Poetry Slam and has performed internationally, from California to New York, Texas to London. She has been published in several spoken word anthologies including The Spoken Word Revolution Redux and ForWord Girls. Cynthia is also a member of the Minnesota Rollergirls roller derby league. Currently, she is working on her first full-length collection of poetry while continuing to teach residencies in writing and spoken word at area schools, community centers and colleges.

Poets in the Park details: Saturday, May 8, 2010 @ 2:00pm + $150 in CASH PRIZES! + Teens and young adults ages 13 - 19 can register to perform + Interested participants should register to perform from 1:30 - 2:00 pm the day of the slam in the Theater in the Woods + Bring 3 original poems to read While content is not censored, be mindful that children may be in the audience + Event free and open to public + Other entertainment: National Slam Champion Cynthia French, 2009 Poets in the Park winner Rob Martin, and the New Heist breakers @ NOTE: EVENT HAS BEEN MOVED  TO THE EAGAN COMMUNITY CENTER! Caponi Art Park's Theater in the Woods [map] Rain Location: Eagan Community Center [map]

Poetry Slam Boot Camp

April 26, 2010 // 6:00 - 8:00pm

OPEN TO COMMUNITY // Teens & Adults

Location: Wescott Library, Eagan (downstairs) [map]
Free, $5 suggested donation
Presented by Caponi Art Park

featuring

Cynthia French

2006 Individual Minnesota Poetry Slam Champion

Description

The hardest part about writing is often knowing where to start.  In poetry slam boot camp, national poetry slam champion Cynthia French will help you jump start the writing process and get comfortable performing.  This will be a fast paced workshop utilizing examples of poems and performances from a variety of poets and poetry slam champions from around the country.  Participants will be asked to read poems, participate in discussions and performance exercises, write and share their writing.  The goal of the workshop is to produce work for the annual Caponi Art Park Teen Poetry Slam, being held on Saturday, May 8 at 2pm.   

Cynthia French

See bio above.

Master Class Registration:

Space is limited for the April 26, 2010 Spoken Word Master Class; please register below.

If you wish to receive an acknowledgemnt that your request has been received, provide a current e-mail address.

First name:
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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.