December 2000, FlagSlam founded.
First FlagSlam Dynasty
The Founders' Era
First FlagSlam Dynasty
The Founders' Era
In 2001, 12th National Poetry Slam in Seattle, Wash.:
Grand Slam Champion: Josh Fleming
Nick Fox
Chris Lane
Christopher Fox Graham
Alternate: Eric “A-rek” Matthew Dye
Coach: Andy “War” Wall
After I graduated from Arizona State University and made the FlagSlam team, I moved to Flagstaff in June.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Dallas
(2) Los Angeles
(3) Seattle
(4) New York, NYC-Urbana
56 teams
Individual Finals
(1) Mayda del Valle
(2) Beau Sia
(3) Shawn V.
(4) Morris Stegosaurus
(5) Angela Boyce
(6) Mama Blue
Second FlagSlam Dynasty
Kofonow Era
In 2002, 13th National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, Minn.:
Grand Slam Champion: Suzy La Follette
Logan Phillips
Andy “War” Hall
Dom Flemons
Alternate: Jarrod Masseud Karimi (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Coach and alternate: John Raymond Kofonow
I tried out for the FlagSlam team in 2002 but pulled the "1" and got clobbered. I had already been planning the Save the Male Tour with Josh Fleming, so that was my summer instead.
First tie at NPS: New York City-Urbana and Detroit
First tie at NPS: New York City-Urbana and Detroit
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
Tie: New York, NYC-Urbana and Detroit
(3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
(4) Seattle
54 teams
Individual Finals
(1) Sekou tha Misfit
(2) Corbet Dean, of Mesa
(3) Kamal Symonette-Dixon
(4) Xero Skidmore
(5) Rives
(6) Gina Loring
(7) Shane Koyczan
(8) Joel Chmara
Grand Slam Champion: Suzy La Follette
Logan Phillips
Cass Hodges
Dom Flemons
Alternate: Julie Hudgens (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Coach and alternate: John Raymond Kofonow
I was a volunteer bout manager at NPS in 2003.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Los Angeles
(2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
(3) Austin
(4) Oakland
Individual Finals
(1) Mighty Mike McGee
(2) Shane Koyczan
(3) Delisle
(4) Soul Evans
(5) Omari
(6) Suzy La Follette
(7) Corina Delgado
(8) Anis Mojgani
(9) Da Shade
(10) Jive Poetic
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Eric Larson
Logan Phillips
Brent Heffron
Coaches: Mary Guaraldi, and John Raymond Kofonow
First time all four NPS finalist teams were from west of the Mississippi River (Hollywood's Da Poetry Lounge, Denver, Dallas and Berkeley). One of the worst organized NPSes due to the location of venues relative to each other and the venues in question. This was the first NORAZ Poets slam team.
In 2005: 16th National Poetry Slam in Albuquerque, N.M.:
Grand Slam Champion: Chris Lane
Logan Phillips
Christopher Fox Graham
Meghan Jones
Aaron Johnson
Coaches: Mary Guaraldi and John Raymond Kofonow
FlagSlam sent a crew of poets and supporters because Albuquerque was so close. I was also legal guardian for my ward, Sarrah Wile. One of the best organized NPSes. All venues were within walking distance of the Hotel Blue. The hotel manager lost his job for what he allowed us to do, but won the Spirit of the Slam Award.This was the secondNORAZ Poets slam team.
Aaron Johnson
Christopher Fox Graham (kicked off team before the National Poetry Slam)
Meghan Jones (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Justin “Biskit” Powell
Alternate: A.J. Moyer (Joined team)
Coaches: Greg Nix (quit before the National Poetry Slam) and John Raymond Kofonow (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
This year was a train wreck. Those who know why, know why. I'm glad A.J., Aaron Johnson and Biskit had a good time at NPS, though. This was the third and final NORAZ Poets slam team.
Third FlagSlam Dynasty
Johnson-Phillips Era
Johnson-Phillips Era
In 2007: 18th National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas:
Grand Slam Champion: Joseph Nieves
Aaron Johnson
Troy Thurman
J.J. Valentine
Last year Individual Poetry Slam Championships were held at NPS. They would be held at a separate event, the Individual World Poetry Slam starting in 2008. In January 2007, Christopher Lane and his NORAZ Poets nonprofit stopped doing any poetry slams in cut all financial support to FlagSlam. Slammaster Aaron Johnson left Flagstaff and with his departure, the leaderless slam lost its venue. By all accounts, after NPS 2007, the FlagSlam's continued existence was in doubt.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Charlotte, SlamCharlotte
(2) Rhyme or Die (Killeen, Texas)
(3) New York, louderARTS
(4) Denver, Slam Nuba
(5) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
76 teams
Individual Finals*
(1) Danny Sherrard
(2) Christopher Michael
(3) Shannon Leigh
(4) Alvin Lau
Other finalists: Kealoha
Michael Guinn
6 is 9
Ed Mabrey
Oz
Robbie Q. Telfer
*This was the final year Individual Finals were held at the National Poetry Slam. A separate tournament, the Individual World Poetry Slam, or iWPS, would be held in the fall starting in 2008.
Fourth FlagSlam Dynasty
Rebirth Era (Cartier-Brown-O'Brien, notable for the Lost Boys and the "Flagstaff cadence")
In 2008: 19th National Poetry Slam in Madison, Wis.:
Grand Slam Champion: Frank O'Brien
Ryan Brown
John Cartier
Jessica Guadarrama
Alternate: Kami Henderson
Coach: Dana Sakowicz
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Charlotte, SlamCharlotte
(2) New York, louderARTS
(3) Austin
(4) Boston, Cantab
75 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) NYC-Urbana
(2) Slam Nahuatl Richmond VA
(3) Killeen Texas
(4) Cleveland
(5) Atlanta
(6) Philadelphia
(7) Charlotte
(8) Honolulu
(9) Chicago-Green Mill
(10) Phoenix (Aaron Johnson, The Klute, KB Chesko, Christian Drake, Rowie Shebala)
(11) Loser Slam, Lincroft, N.J.
(12) Seattle
(13) Fort Worth
In 2009: 20th National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, FL.
Grand Slam Champion: Frank O'Brien
Ryan Brown
John Cartier
Andrew “Antranormus” Wanner
Jessica Guadarrama
Coach: Dana Sakowicz
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) St. Paul, Soapboxing
(2) Albuquerque, ABQ Slams
(3) San Francisco
(4) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
68 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Berkeley Poetry Slam
(2) Seattle Poetry Slam
(3) Fort Worth Poetry Slam
(4) The Stage, West Palm Beach, Fla.
(5) Art Amok, Atlanta
(6) California- Life Sentence Slam
(7) Loser Slam, New Jersey
(8) Toronto Poetry Slam
(9) Salt City Slam, Salt Lake City
(10) Slamarillo, Amarillo Texas
Fifth FlagSlam Dynasty
Brown Era
Grand Slam Champion: Ryan Brown
Brian Towne
Johnny P (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
RahMahMercy (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Frank O'Brien (Joined team in Johnny P's slot)
Christopher Fox Graham (Joined team in RahMahMercy's slot after landing at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport the day before NPS)
Alternate: Christopher Harbster (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
I was going to be a volunteer bout manager at NPS in 2010, but wound up on the team.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) St. Paul, Soapboxing
(2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
(3) Bull City Slam Team, Durham, North Carolina
(4) Austin, Neo Soul
78 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Slam New Orleans
(2) Pomona
(3) Santa Cruz
(4) Oakland
(5) Vancouver
(6) Minneapolis,
(7) Fort Worth
(8) Ocotillo, (Tucson, Arizona)
(9) Seattle
(10) Urbana
(11) Toronto
In 2011: 22nd National Poetry Slam in Cambridge and Boston, Mass.:
Grand Slam Champion: Shaun “nodalone” Srivastava
Maple Dewleaf
Taylor Marie “Tay” Kayonnie-Ehrlich
Christopher Harbster (quit before the National Poetry Slam)
Alternate: Tyler “Valence” Sirvinskas (Joined team)
I was a volunteer venue manager at NPS in 2011.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Denver, Slam Nuba
(2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
(3) Providence Poetry Slam
(4) Columbus, Ohio Writing Wrongs
76 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) ABQ Slams
(2) Austin Poetry Slam
(3) The Intangible Slam, New York City
(4) Dallas Poetry Slam
(5) Elevated! (San Diego)
(6) Houston Poetry Slam
(7) Knoxville Poetry Slam
(8) Austin Neo Soul
(9) Houston VIP
(10) Eclectic Truth, Baton Rouge, La.
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Ryan Brown
Tara Pollock (tied)
Shaun “nodalone” Srivastava (tied)
Alternate: Jackson Morris (Joined team)
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Slam New Orleans
(2) Killeen, Texas
(3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
(4) Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge)
72 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Austin Neo Soul
(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
Sixth FlagSlam Dynasty
Quinonez Era
In 2013: 24th National Poetry Slam in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, Mass.:
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Jackson Morris
Vincent Vega, aka Vincent Simone
Verbal Kensington (opted out to give Gabbi Jue her slot and compete for the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team)
Alternate: Austin Reeves (Joined team)
2nd alternate: Gabbi Jue (Joined team)
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Slam New Orleans
(2) Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge)
(3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe
(4) Elevated! San Diego
70 teams
Group Piece Finals
(tie 1) Austin Neo Soul / Intangible Slam
(tie 3) Java Monkey / Houston VIP
(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)
In 2014: 25th National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif.:
Grand Slam Champion: Ryan Smalley
Josh Wiss
Josh Floyd
Christopher Fox Graham
Alternate: Claire Pearson (Joined team)
Coach: John Quinonez
A caravan headed from Flagstaff: The Yorktown, The Truth Bomber and The Majin Buu. On the first night in Oakland, The Yorktown was broken into and thieves stole computers and clothes from John Quinonez, Christopher Fox Graham and Ryan Smalley but we still had an awesome time.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) D.C. Beltway Poetry Slam
(2) New York, NYC-Urbana
(3) Slam New Orleans
(4) Denver, Slam Nuba
72 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Hear, Hear! Poetry Slam
(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
In 2015: 26th National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif.:
Grand Slam Champion: Ryan Smalley
Christopher Fox Graham
Gabbi Jue
Vincent Vega (Moved to Japan prior to NPS)
Alternate: Claire Pearson (Joined team)
Coach: John Quinonez
Due to the untimely death of regular FlagSlam poet Lauren Delores Spencer in a car accident, the FlagSlam donated money to assist with funeral expenses. FlagSlam was late paying for registration and instead was placed on the waiting list, but never made it to the regular rotation. Team members went and volunteered and still had an awesome time.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) The House Slam (Boston)
(2) Hawaii Slam
(3) Berkeley Slam
(4) Denver Mercury Poetry Slam
72 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Austin Poetry Slam
(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
Seventh FlagSlam Dynasty
Quorum of Five Era
In 2016: 27th National Poetry Slam in Decatur, Ga.
Grand Slam Champion: Ryan Smalley
Gabbi Jue
Claire Pearson
Christopher Fox Graham
Alternate: Kim Possible, aka Kim Jarchow, (Joined team)
Coach: John Quinonez
John Quinonez officially stepped down as slammaster at the conclusion of the slam, handing the reins of slammastership to a Quorum of Five: Gabbi Jue, Rowie Shebala, Wil Williams, Claire Pearson and Kim Jarchow. To be clear, Wil Williams is, without a doubt, an absolute shitbag person, rudely condescending, most especially to other women, ignorantly and embarrassingly self-righteous and wholly unprepared to lead anything other than a solo long walk off a short pier. I had very little to do with her but the exodus of veteran poets sick of her strong-arm tactics to dominate the event was deafening. She literally made other poets I love cry and drove freshman poets away and they called me about it. After running the slam in the ground and causing the five-women to break up as leaders, Facing a coup or complete dissolution of the slam, Wil Williams fled both the slam and Flagstaff and is reportedly holed up in Phoenix as a "podcast critic," which is as pointless as that sounds and, unsurprisingly, "reviews" things because she made her judgmentalism professionally masturbatory. If she gets hit by a truck, most Flagstaff poets will feel bad for the truck and I know which women will be driving it.
In any case, FlagSlam has seen struggles before, but Wil Williams was a clear, present and unique threat to its survival even more so than COVID a few years later.
Kim Jarchow and Claire Pearson salvaged the slam and rebuilt it.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Slammageddon Baltimore
(2) San Diego PoetrySLAM
(3) The House Slam (Boston)
(4) Austin NeoSoul
72 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) 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
(tie 10) Hear Here / Houston Poetry Slam / Puro Slam
Eighth FlagSlam Dynasty
Jarchow-Pearson-Gates Era
In 2017: 28th National Poetry Slam in Denver. Colo.
Grand Slam Champion: Josh WissChristopher Fox Graham
Kim Possible, aka Kim Jarchow
Claire Pearson
Alternate: Gabbi Jue, (Joined team)
Coach: Davey Latour, I guess?This year, I stayed in the Denver suite of the Sedona team (Lydia Gates, Briana Grace Hammerstrom, Rob Chandler Gonzalez and Kenny Kreslake), along with Davey Latour. The suite was awesome and worth every penny.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) San Diego PoetrySLAM
(2) Brooklyn Poetry Slam
(3) The House Slam (Boston)
(4) Da Poetry Lounge Slam Team (Los Angeles)
84 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Dada Poetry Slam
(2) Slam Charlotte Poetry Slam
(3) PuroSlam
(4) Eclectic Truth
(5) Salt City Slam
(6) The Writers Den
(7) Boise Poetry Slam
(tie 8) Steel City Slam / ABQ Slams
(10) Toronto Poetry Slam
(11) Boston Poetry Slam
(12) Ktown Mic Drop Slam
(13) Rain City Slam
In 2018: 29th and final National Poetry Slam in Chicago, Ill.
Grand Slam Champion: Kim Possible, aka Kim Jarchow
Ryan Smalley
Christopher Fox Graham
Lydia Gates
Alternate: Tempest (Joined team)
Coach: None
This year, the Poetry Slam Inc., nonprofit collapse following a contentious SlamMaster's meeting that saw Executive Director Suzy Q, be fired the day before the meeting, then the entire board resign, and a caretaker board eventually form to settle accounts, host iWPS in the fall, then dissolve. It was a mess.
National Poetry Slam Team Finals
(1) Charlotte, SlamCharlotte
(2) Da Poetry Lounge Slam Team (Los Angeles)
(3) Slammageddon Baltimore
(4) Salt City Unified (Salt Lake City)
72 teams
Group Piece Finals
(1) Art Amok
(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
Ninth FlagSlam Dynasty
Gates-Tempest Era
From 2019 to 2024: No National Poetry Slam was held
Grand Slam Champion: Zane Schechterle
Gabbi Jue
Lydia Gates
Catheryn Dawn Tarazi
Levi Phillips
The COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, ending the slam until the fall of 2021. Kim Jarchow moved to Colorado and Tempest Black took over co-hosting duties with Lydia Gates.
The slam resumed in person in 2022 and was back up to full speed in 2023 and 2024, sending teams to regional competitions in Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland Oregon.
On the national level, some strong local and regional slams continued. Other slams, including some major ones with national presence and long histories faded or outright ended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arizona slams in Northern Arizona continued.
In the Phoenix area, the Ghost Slam at the Rebel Lounge, hosted by Cylie Lawrence and Josh Naylor, began, reinvigorating the Phoenix area poetry scene.
Linda Boser, LMB, in Prescott, began a new slam in that city, which hadn't one since the mid-2000s.
In June 2023
Arizona poetry scenes were supportive of each other, but in many scene, the "old slam" and the "new slam" faced tensions with veteran poets somewhat dismissive of the younger poets starting poetry slams. In response to this tension and a Facebook meme of "Your poems are not good because ..." brought this tension to the forefront, to which I wrote a response poem "Your Poems Are Not Good Because ... [a response]" or "The Rise, Fall and Renaissance of Poetry Slam"
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