Poets compete for grand prize at the Old Town Poetry Slam

The art of competitive spoken word explodes with the Old Town Poetry Slam — a high-energy poetry slam starting at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday, April. 11.
Twelve of the region’s best performance poets will compete for a grand prize of $100 at the Old Town Center for the Arts, 633 N. Fifth St., Cottonwood.
The Old Town Poetry Slam comes on the heels of the Old Town Shootout in December in which four Arizona poetry slam teams competed in one of three statewide regional competitions.
April’s poetry slam is open, meaning any performance poet is welcome to compete. Poets need at least three original poems, each no longer than three minutes.
The Old Town Poetry Slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who has represented Sedona and Flagstaff at four National Poetry Slams. To compete, poets need to register via e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. Slots will be determined on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Founded in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport. Poetry slams are judged by five random members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets’ content and performance. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.
Tickets are $10. For tickets or more information about the Cottonwood poetry slam, call the Old Town Center for the Arts at 928-634-0940.
Additional ticket outlets include Green Carrot Café, Jerona Café and the Desert Dancer in Cottonwood; Golden Word Bookstore and Crystal Magic, in Sedona; The Worm bookstore in the Village of Oak Creek; and The Sage Post, in Jerome.