Valence wins the Sedona Poetry Grand Slam

Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas wins the Sedona Poetry Grand Slam held Saturday, June 16, 2012, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre in Sedona, Arizona.

Photo courtesy of MaryCae Vignolini

2012 Sedona Grand Slam Champion Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence, performs at the 2011 National Poetry Slam in Cambridge, Mass.

The 2012 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team members are:

Valence, Evan Dissinger, Josh Wiss, Frank O'Brien and Spenser Troth.

Benediction: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona, "Welcome to the Church of the Word"

Round 1
Draw based on season's point rankings

Calibration: Shaun "nodalone" Sristava, of Flagstaff
Calibration: Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff
Calibration: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona, "Spinal Language"

Lauren Hanss, of Flagstaff, 21.8, 1:32, 11th, -7.1
Gary Every, of Sedona, 23.7, 22.7 after 1.0-point time penalty, 3:24, 10th, -5.2
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 3:06, tie 3rd, -0.6
Spenser Troth, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 27.3 after 1.0-point time penalty, 3:21, tie 3rd, -0.6
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff, 26.8, 2:41, 8th -2.1
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 26.4, 2:18, 9th, -2.5
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 27.5, 2:59, tie 6th, -1.4
The Klute, of Phoenix, 28.3, 27.8 after 0.5-point time penalty, 3:15, tie 3rd, -0.6
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 27.5,  2:51, tie 6th, -1.4
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.9, 2:18, 1st, 0.0
Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas, of Flagstaff, 28.5, 2:54, 2nd, -0.4

Round 2
Reverse Order

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona, "Dear Pluto"

Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 2:26, 56.8, 4th, -0.5
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.1, 2:39, 57.0, 3rd, -0.3

Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 28.3, 2:32, 55.8, 5th, -1.5
The Klute, of Phoenix, 29.4, 2:50, 57.2, 2nd, -0.1
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 27.8, 2:57, 55.3, 6th, -2.0
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 26.9, 2:46, 53.3, 9th, -4.0
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff, 26.7, 2:59, 53.5, 8th, -3.8
Spenser Troth, of Flagstaff, 26.8, 2:33, 54.1, 7th, -3.2
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 29.0, 2:14, 57.3, 1st, 0.0
Gary Every, of Sedona, 27.0, 2:50, 49.7, 10th, -7.6
Lauren Hanss, of Flagstaff, 25.8, 2:08, 47.6, 11th, -9.7

Round 3
High to Low

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham (poem) and Azami Ishihara (dance), of Sedona, "In the Corners of This Room."

Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 1:33, 85.6, 2nd, -0.4
The Klute, of Phoenix, 28.3, 2:47, 85.5, 3rd, -0.5
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 2:26, 85.3, 4th, -0.7

Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas, of Flagstaff, 29.2, 2:47, 86., 1st, 0.0
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 27.6, 27.1 after 0.5-point time penalty, 3:16, 82.9, 6th, -3.1
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 28.8, 2:58, 84., 5th, -1.9
Spenser Troth, of Flagstaff, 28.3, 1:33, 82.4, 7th, -3.6
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff, 28.6, 3:06, 82.1, 8th, -3.9
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 26.9, 2:28, 80.2, 9th, -5.8
Gary Every, of Sedona, 27.6, 1:54, 77.3, 10th, -8.7
Lauren Hanss, of Flagstaff, 27.3, 1:54, 74.9, -11.1

Final Scores

Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas, of Flagstaff, 86.0
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 85.6
The Klute, of Phoenix, 85.5
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 85.3
Frank O'Brien, of Prescott, 84.1
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 82.9
Spenser Troth, of Flagstaff, 82.4
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff, 82.1
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 80.2
Gary Every, of Sedona, 77.3
Lauren Hanss, of Flagstaff, 74.9

(The Klute and Lauren Perry declined to join the team, bumping Frank O'Brien and Spencer Troth to the team as alternates).

Photo by Jonathan Weiskopf.

Tyler Sirvinskas aka Valence performs at the 2011 National Poetry Slam in Cambridge, Mass.

Tyler Sirvinskas aka Valence, was a member of the 2011 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam team. He is the top-ranked poet competing in the Sedona grand slam. 

Evan Dissinger. Photo by Kelly Watts.

Evan Dissinger is one of the preeminent voices in the Flagstaff poetry scene. A skateboard rat in Flagstaff, Dissinger is one of the most sincere poets in Arizona with a knack for making conventional experiences sublime.

Josh Wiss

Joshua Wiss’ infectious enthusiasm for life is evident in his energetic performances. A recent graduate of NAU with a degree in creative writing, Wiss performed at every Sedona Poetry Slam this season and was ranked No. 2 going into the grand slam.

Frank O'Brien

A poet’s poet, Frank O’Brien writes with a profound simplicity. O’Brien won the 2008 and 2009 Flagstaff Grand Slams, and competed at three national poetry slams from 2008 to 2010.

Spencer Troth

A political science student at NAU, Spencer Troth’s introspective work brings compassion to his views of current events, such as a poem touching on the double murder outside Sedona in January. Troth will be taking his poetic voice overseas as a political science student in France next year.