Aaron Levy, "Emo Love" Sedona Poetry Slam round 8

Aaron Levy is a longtime veteran of the Flagstaff poetry slam scene.
"I am an Anarchist. I believe that the capitalist fairy tale is killing us all. What's great is that it seems to be killing itself right now I love a great deal but I have no room in my life for dogmatic and destructive religions that are destroying this world through patriarchal heterosexist privilege constructs."
Aaron Levy represented the Sedona Team at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, June 27, 2009.
The poem ran 4:36, earning Aaron Levy a -4.5 time penalty. The humor of the poem, however, was totally worth that point loss.

Aaron Levy, Sedona Poetry Slam round 1

Aaron Levy is a longtime veteran of the Flagstaff poetry slam scene.
"I am an Anarchist. I believe that the capitalist fairy tale is killing us all. What's great is that it seems to be killing itself right now I love a great deal but I have no room in my life for dogmatic and destructive religions that are destroying this world through patriarchal heterosexist privilege constructs."
Aaron Levy represented the Sedona Team at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, June 27, 2009.

Get your tickets for the Sedona Poetry Slam

Get your tickets now for the the Sedona Poetry Slam, held this Saturday, June 27, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Twelve poets will compete on three teams pouring out their hearts, artistic skills, and personal passion, merely for your amusement.

They hope to change your life in three short minutes, but will also attempt to make you bust a gut laughing, tug at your heartstrings, entertain your love of language, or remind you of an experience you’ve lost. Either way, you will leave the slam with at least one new reason to love spoken word.

Proceeds benefit the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team, helping five young poets get to the National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, Fla., in August.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door, available at Golden Word Books & Music, 1575 West Hwy. 89A, 1-800-248-4405.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, Sedona. For more information, visit http://studiolivesedona.com/, call Christopher Fox Graham at 928-517-1400 or Jennifer Reddington at 928-821-2694.

What is the Sedona Poetry Slam for?

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., four of the five members of the 2009 Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team will compete against other top poets from around the state in three teams of four poets each. Proceeds from the poetry slam bout will help send the Flagstaff team to the National Poetry Slam, held this year in West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 4 to 8.

The team will represent Northern Arizona against more than 80 other teams from around the country.

Since it was founded in 2001, the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team has served as the common banner for all Northern Arizona poets at the National Poetry Slam.

Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team

Poets from Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek, Cottonwood and Camp Verde have routinely made the trek up the hill to compete in Flagstaff. Likewise, Flagstaff poets often bring theirspoken word talents to Sedona audiences. Several Sedona poets have also been members of the Flagstaff team in past years.

This year, Jessica Guadarrama continues that proud tradition. Guadarrama is a Sedona Red Rock High School alumna and current Northern Arizona University student.
She is joined on the team by poets Frank O’Brien, Ryan Brown, Antranormus and John Cartier.

Frank O’Brien is a 20-year-old Coconino Community College student, focusing on pre-nursing. Originally from Phoenix, O’Brien entered the slam poetry scene in fall 2007. As a member of the 2008 Flagstaff team, he traveled with Cartier, Brown and Guadarrama to Nationals held in Madison, Wis.
O’Brien is now an active poet and administrator of the FlagSlam Poetry Slam.

Ryan Brown stated that he is a kid from Phoenix who spends most of his time posing as a writer and poet. He now goes to school and lives in Flagstaff, where he is the SlamMaster of the FlagSlam Poetry Slam.
Writing mainly about love and the true impact that it can have on the world, Brown stated that he enjoys baseball cards, cheap candy, and eating his girlfriend's cooking.

Antranormus is a hip-hop artist who constantly seeks to redefine or completely blur the boundaries between hip-hop, poetry and absurdity.
Known for his complex, multisyllabic rhyme schemes and controversial subject matter, Antranormus has shared the stage with members of Wu Tang Clan, Jurassic 5, solo artists Abstract Rude, Illogic, Sole and others.

Their Flagstaff foes

The Flagstaff team will face off against a second team of Flagstaff poets including Kami Michel, Andrew Michel, Maple Dewleaf and Garrett Lackner

Their Sedona foes

The Sedona poets include MC Fun Yung Moon, Aaron Levy, Than Ponvert and Kayt Perlman.

“When i'm in my proper element call me "fun yung" one tongue to bring the song that might've gone unsung one son sprung from the sun never leave the job undone fun one, love is forever in, i'm reverend, revellin', and relevant and i'm reverant, i'm severin' the devil in half, i have to laugh i can't help it, i'm just a addict, gotta nasty habit, i gots to have it. well what am i supposed to do man? i got no new slang just my du-lang, du-lang, du-lang, and i can see you and your crew hang lookin' for the pu-tang with the wu-tang in the tape deck, but have you figured out your own fate yet? you need fatih, know when to chill, i got will power though no will, no trust fund, used to trust none now i trust one, just fun, thrust upon the world lust none, just run hand me a mic and watch me bust one it goes: f-u-n-y-u-n-g 'cuz i still think there's a place for me, and just maybe i departed a little bit too hastily, and plus the only way to be in time and space is free. f-u-n-y-u-n-g, 'cuz i still think there's a place for me, plus all these party people keep on chasin' me, and i think it only right to keep showin' them ways to see...

--from "admit one" off of "liberation theology"

Aaron Levy is an anarchist who believes that the capitalist fairy tale is killing us all. What's great is that it seems to be killing itself right now. Levy loves a great deal but I have no room in his life for dogmatic and destructive religions that are destroying this world through patriarchal heterosexist privilege constructs.

Just in from southern Vermont, Kayt Perlman aka Kayt Pearl, has recently relocated to Sedona with a deep sigh of relief. The north is cold. Co-founder of Women Divine Acapella & Rhyme, a traveling collaborative installment of all-women expression; founder of Sound Foundation, an organization/movement for universal connection and cross-cultural understanding through word and sound; northeastern regional slam poetess and co-master and founder of Martial Poetry Slams, the local slam scene in Brattleboro, Vt., local vocal-ess singer/songwriter and otherwise unknown human just trying to commun-i-kayt with the rest of us.

Perlman has been part of several different bands and musical acts over the last 10 years. Mostly performing in the Northeast, she uses spoken word and song, with the help of guitar, and other sound acoustics, to get her point across. She was the singer for "Off the Hip" - a fusion-house band playing funk/tribal beats/r&b and world music for Stratton Ski Resort's Red Fox Inn.

Than Povert is a student at Sedona Red Rock High School, following in the poetic footsteps of his predecessors Jessica Guardarrama, David Ward and Jordan Boner.

Ponvert most recently competed at the Old Town Poetry Slam in Cottonwood in April against some of the top poets in Northern Arizona, some more than twice his age.

Sedona Poetry Slam details

The June 27 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham.

Graham has been a member of four National Poetry Slam teams, representing Flagstaff in 2001, and Flagstaff/Sedona joint teams in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Graham was part of the Save the Male Tour, a four-man international spoken word tour in 2002.

Graham has repeatedly stated that "all slam poets are Jedis." In keeping with this, Graham has contributed to training "youngling slam poets" in Northern Arizona through mentorship and his Treatise on Slam Strategy.

Graham has performed for MTV's "Made" and on The Travel Channel's "Your Travel Guide" episode of Sedona. He has performed poetry in nearly 40 states, Canada, Ireland and Great Britain.

Sorbet poets include Ryan Garlington, mikel weisser and Markus Eye.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. The team needs to raise around $2,000 to fund the trip.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, Sedona. For more information, visit http://studiolivesedona.com/.

What is a poetry slam?

Founded in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets’ contents and performances. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.

Since 1990, teams from around the North America have competed at the National Poetry Slam, held in a different city every year. For five days, poets enjoy critique and camaraderie
as they compete. The top four teams face off on the final night.

Daytime events include instructional workshops, featured readings, poetry showcases, the infamous “Haiku Deathmatch.” Because of the rich diversity and intense focus on the art of spoken word, the National Poetry Slam is considered a transformational experience for young poets.

For more information about the 2009 National Poetry Slam, visit http://nps2009.com/.