National Poetry Slam
The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurs in early August every year and in different U.S. cities.
History[edit]
The first National Poetry Slam was held at Fort Mason in 1990 in San Francisco. [1] It was organized by poet Gary Mex Glazner and featured three competing teams: Chicago (birthplace of slam), New York City (Nuyorican), and San Francisco (host city).[1] It has been held every year since. 2014).[2]
From 1990 to 2007, the National Poetry Slam held an individual poetry competition (known as "indies") simultaneously with the team competition, with the poets earning the highest ranking individual poems during the first two days of competition moving on the semifinal and final rounds. The first winner of this event was Patricia Smith, who would go on to win the Individual National Poetry Slam Championship title a record four times.[3]
Starting in 2004, Poetry Slam Inc. (PSI) began hosting a separate event called the Individual World Poetry Slam (IWPS), in which solo poets, rather than teams, competed for the championship title.[4] Because of the popularity of iWPS and to avoid the confusion of two "individual" poetry slam titles being awarded ever year, Poetry Slam Inc. decided to cancel the "indie" competition at the National Poetry Slam.[5]
In 2008, the "Indie Finals" was replaced with the "Group Piece Finals," in which the teams with the highest ranking group pieces (multi-voice poems featuring more than one poet) competed for the title. Only teams who weren't already eligible for NPS semifinals were allowed to compete, with New York, NYC-Urbana being the first Group Piece Finals championship team.
Also in 2008, the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS) was introduced, in which only female and female-identified poets are allowed to compete.[6] The first WOWPS was held in Detroit, Michigan and the first WOWPS champion was Andrea Gibson.[7]
In 2008, poet Harlym 125 created an unofficial individual competition called the National Underground Poetry Individual Competition (NUPIC) as a response to the absence of an individual competition at NPS.[8] The winner of this competition has traditionally been given a showcase spot on the finals stage at NPS.
The National Poetry Slam has also been the subject of several feature-length documentaries, including the 1998 Paul Devlin film SlamNation, and the 2006 Kyle Fuller and Mike Henry film Slam Planet.
Results by year[edit]
Team Finalists[3][9][edit]
| Year | Winner | Runners Up | Number of Competing Teams | Host City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Charlotte, SlamCharlotte | (2) Da Poetry Lounge Slam Team (3) Slammageddon Baltimore (4) Salt City Unified | 72 | Chicago, Illinois |
| 2017 | San Diego PoetrySLAM[10] | (2) Brooklyn Poetry Slam (3) The House Slam (Boston) (4) Da Poetry Lounge Slam Team | 84 | Denver, Colorado |
| 2016 | Slammageddon Baltimore[11] | (2) San Diego PoetrySLAM (3) The House Slam (Boston) (4) Austin NeoSoul | 72 | Decatur, Georgia |
| 2015 | The House Slam[12] | (2) Hawaii Slam (3) Berkeley Slam (4) Denver Mercury Poetry Slam | 72 | Oakland, California |
| 2014 | D.C. Beltway Poetry Slam[13] | (2) New York, NYC-Urbana (3) Slam New Orleans (4) Denver, Slam Nuba | 72 | Oakland, California |
| 2013 | Slam New Orleans[14] | (2) Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Elevated! San Diego | 70 | Boston |
| 2012 | Slam New Orleans[15] | (2) Killeen, Texas (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) | 72 | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| 2011 | Denver, Slam Nuba | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Providence Poetry Slam (4) Columbus, Ohio Writing Wrongs | 76 | Boston |
| 2010 | St. Paul, Soapboxing | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Durham, North Carolina Bull City Slam Team (4) Austin, Neo Soul | 78 | St. Paul, Minnesota |
| 2009 | St. Paul, Soapboxing | (2) Albuquerque, ABQ Slams (3) San Francisco (4) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe | 68 | West Palm Beach, Florida |
| 2008 | Charlotte, SlamCharlotte | (2) New York, louderARTS (3) Austin (4) Boston, Cantab | 75 | Madison, Wisconsin |
| 2007 | Charlotte, SlamCharlotte | (2) Killeen, TX Rhyme or Die (3) New York, louderARTS (4) Denver, Slam Nuba (5) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe | 76 | Austin, Texas |
| 2006 | Denver | (2) Austin, Southflavas (3) New York, louderARTS (4) DC-Baltimore (5) Miami | 75 | Austin, TX |
| 2005 | Albuquerque, ABQ Slams | (2) Charlotte, Slam Charlotte (3) Fort Worth (3) Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) | 75 | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| 2004 | Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) | (2) Denver (3) Dallas (4) Berkeley | 69 | St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2003 | Los Angeles | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Austin (4) Oakland | 63 | Chicago |
| 2002 | New York, NYC-Urbana/ Detroit (Tie) | (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Seattle | 54 | Minneapolis |
| 2001 | Dallas | (2) Los Angeles (3) Seattle (4) New York, NYC-Urbana | 56 | Seattle |
| 2000 | New York, NYC-Urbana | (2) San Antonio (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) New York, louderARTS | 56 | Providence, Rhode Island |
| 1999 | San Francisco & San Jose (Tie) | (3) New York, louderARTS (4) Oakland | 48 | Chicago |
| 1998 | New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe | (2) Dallas (3) Los Angeles (4) Cleveland | 45 | Austin |
| 1997 | New York, Mouth Almighty | (2) Chicago, Green Mill (3) Cleveland (4) Worcester | 33 | Middletown, Connecticut |
| 1996 | Providence | (2) Berwyn (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Austin | 27 | Portland, Oregon |
| 1995 | Asheville | (2) Cleveland (3) Boston (4) Maine | 27 | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| 1994 | Cleveland | (2) Boston (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Asheville | 24 | Asheville, North Carolina |
| 1993 | Boston | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Cambridge (4) Cleveland | 23 | San Francisco |
| 1992 | Boston | (2) San Francisco (3) Ann Arbor | 17 | Boston |
| 1991 | Chicago, Green Mill | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) San Francisco (4) Boston | 8 | Chicago |
| 1990 | Chicago, Green Mill | (2) San Francisco (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe | 3 | San Francisco |
Individual Finalists at NPS[3][edit]
Group Piece Finalists at NPS[3][edit]
| Year | Winner | Runners Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Art Amok[16] | (2) Austin Poetry Slam (3) The Retort United (The Drunken Retort) (4) The Fuze Poetry Slam (5) Jersey City Slam (6) Orlando Poetry Slam (7) Boise Poetry Slam (8) St. Louis Poetry Slam (9) Nitty Gritty Slam (10) For The Win (11) Slam Free or Die |
| 2017 | Dada Poetry Slam[16] | (2) Slam Charlotte Poetry Slam (3) PuroSlam (4) Eclectic Truth (5) Salt City Slam (6) The Writers Den (7) Boise Poetry Slam (8) Steel City Slam / ABQ Slams (tie) (10) Toronto Poetry Slam (11) Boston Poetry Slam (12) Ktown Mic Drop Slam (13) Rain City Slam |
| 2016 | ABQ Slams | (2) Dada Poetry Slam (3) Burlington Ontario (4) Northampton Poetry (5) Freshwater Wordsmiths (6) OM Center Poetry Slam (7) Alchemy Slam (8) Union Square Slam (9) Nuyorican Poets Café (10) Hear Here / Houston Poetry Slam / Puro Slam (tie) |
| 2015 | Austin Poetry Slam[17] | (2) Palo Alto (3) Austin Neo Soul (4) Slam Charlotte (5) Atlanta Art Amok (6) Rain City (7) Lizard Lounge Poetry Slam (8) Fort Worth (9) Portland Poetry Slam (10) Seattle Poetry Slam |
| 2014 | Hear, Hear! Poetry Slam[18] | (2) Austin Neo Soul (3) WU Slam (St. Louis) (4) Philly Pigeon (5) Palo Alto (6) Verbal Slap (7) Lethal Poetry (Chicago) (8) Denver Mercury (9) Battle Born (Las Vegas) (10) Boise Poetry Slam |
| 2013 | Austin Neo Soul / Intangible Slam (tie)[19] | (3) Java Monkey / Houston VIP (tie) (5) Hear Here (Colorado Springs) (6) Battle Born (Las Vegas) (7) Seattle Poetry Slam (Seattle) (8) Dallas Poetry Slam (Dallas) (9) Salt City Slam (Salt Lake City) (10) Sedona Poetry Slam (Sedona, Arizona) |
| 2012 | Austin Neo Soul[20] | (2) Bull City Slam (3) ABQ Slams (4) Dallas Poetry Slam (5) Piedmont Poetry Slam (6) Burlington Slam Project (7) Jersey City Poetry Slam (8) Loser Slam (9) Vancouver Poetry Slam (10) Urbana |
| 2011 | ABQ Slams | (Other finalists: Austin Poetry Slam, The Intangible Slam (New York City), Dallas Poetry Slam, Elevated! (San Diego), Houston Poetry Slam, Knoxville Poetry Slam, Austin Neo Soul, Houston VIP, and Eclectic Truth (Baton Rouge)) |
| 2010 | Slam New Orleans | (Other finalists: Pomona, Santa Cruz, Oakland, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Fort Worth, Ocotillo, Seattle, Urbana, and Toronto) |
| 2009 | Berkeley Poetry Slam[21] | (2) Seattle Poetry Slam (Other finalists: Fort Worth Poetry Slam, West Palm Beach - The Stage, Atlanta - Art Amok, California- Life Sentence Slam, New Jersey - Loser Slam, Toronto Poetry Slam, Salt Lake City - Salt City Slam, and Amarillo - Slamarillo) |
| 2008 | NYC-Urbana | (2) Slam Nahuatl Richmond VA (3) Killeen Texas (4) Cleveland (Other finalists: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Honolulu, Chicago-Green Mill, Phoenix, Lincroft, Seattle, and Fort Worth) |
National Underground Poetry Individual Competition (NUPIC) Champion[edit]
| Year | Winner | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | (TIE) Lindsay Young Gabriel Ramirez | |
| 2017 | Raych Jackson | Black Chakra |
| 2016 | Roya Marsh | Ashley Davis |
| 2015 | Will Giles | Imani Cezanne |
| 2014 | Danez Smith | Tim "Toaster" Henderson |
| 2013 | Dominique Ashaheed | Jared Singer |
| 2012 | Marty McConnell | Mckendy Fils-Aimé |
| 2011 | Rachel McKibbens | Carrie Rudzinski |
| 2010 | Eboni Hogan | Omoizele "Oz" Okoawo |
| 2009 | Rudy Francisco | J. W. "Baz" Basilo |
Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS)[edit]
Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS)[edit]
See also[edit]
- Individual World Poetry Slam
- List of performance poets
- Oral poetry
- Performance poetry
- Poetry Slam
- Poetry Slam, Inc.
- Spoken word
- Women of the World Poetry Slam
References[edit]
- ^ a b Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. Soft Skull Press. "Chapter Six: Playing Nice; The First National Poetry Slam" Page 45. ISBN 1-933368-82-9.
- ^ Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. Soft Skull Press. "New York City Poetry Slam Teams" Page 366-369. ISBN 1-933368-82-9.
- ^ a b c d Poetry Slam, Inc. Website: Past NPS Winners page
- ^ Poetry Slam, Inc. Website: iWPS page
- ^ Poetry Slam, Inc. Website: NPS FAQ page
- ^ Poetry Slam, Inc. Website: WOWPS page
- ^ Poetry Slam, Inc. Website: WOWPS News page
- ^ Spread the word.....there will be an Underground Indi's at Nat's....
- ^ "Home - Carbonite Discount Offer Code". National Poetry Slam 2011.
- ^ "Team Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "Team Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "Team Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "Team Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "Team Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "Team Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ a b "NPS 2017 Scores".
- ^ "NPS 2015 Scores".
- ^ "NPS 2014 Group Piece Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "NPS 2013 Group Piece Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "NPS 2012 Group Piece Finals PSI Scores".
- ^ "Complete Team Rankings".
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