This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 670,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Ready to play ...


"On the other side of the Flagstaff Nerd Slam, it all looks so easy.
-Kevin Flynn

All aboard, heroes in a half-shell ...


"The Flagstaff Nerd Slam, cowabunga, dude!
-Michelangelo

Nature always finds a way ...


"Welcome to ... Flagstaff Nerd Slam."
―John Hammond, InGen CEO

Proton packs charged ...


"Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! The Flagstaff Nerd Slam! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together ... mass hysteria."
―Dr. Peter Venkman

Friday, January 9, 2015

"14 Lines from Love Letters or Suicide Notes" by Doc Luben



Doc Luben is a writer, performer, and general person in Portland Oregon. Follow him at Doc Luben Poetry on Tumblr


Subscribe to Button! New video daily: http://bit.ly/buttonpoetry
If you loved this poem, check out Ken Arkind: http://bit.ly/1qaGZI0
Performing during the Last Chance Slam at the Individual World Poetry Slam.

Follow Button on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SG5Xm0

About Button:

Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.

We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Third Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2014-2015 season takes place Saturday, Jan. 3

Poets are invited to compete at the third Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2014-15, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Suite A-3.

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. While many people may think of poetry as dull and laborious, a poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays. All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain and inspire the audience with their creativity.

Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.

To compete in the slam, poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted. The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive.

The slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on seven FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009. Contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam.

Tickets are $12. Click here, or call Mary D. Fisher Theatre at 282-1177 or visit SedonaFilmFestival.org.


The slam is the third the 2014-15 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's fourth National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. There are seven slams in the regular season, six in Sedona and one in Clarkdale. The final Grand Poetry Slam takes place on June 6, to determine the team.

The local poets will share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a week-long explosion of expression. Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third to Oakland, Calif., in August.

Women of the World Poetry Slam Qualifier

This slam is also the qualifier for Sedona’s representative to the International Women of the World Poetry Slam, to be held in Albuquerque, N.M., from March 18 to 21. The highest-ranked female or female-identified poet from earns Sedona’s WOWps slot.

Poets who live their lives as women are eligible to participate in the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Competitors are eligible from certified venues or as individuals from areas without certified venues (aka “Storm” poets).

All competitors must be PSI members in good standing and must agree to participate in the event following the rules of Slam as well as the Code of Honor, and must allow for PSI to videotape their performances for PSI owned product.

What is Poetry Slam?

Founded in Chicago in 1984 by construction worker Marc Smith, 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.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

"One Side of an Ongoing Dialogue with Sharon, My Therapist" by Desireé Dallagiacomo


Desireé Dallagiacomo performing with the 2012 Baton Rouge National Poetry Slam Team in Charlotte, North Carolina.


Desireé Dallagiacomo is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a member of Slam New Orleans (2-time NPS Champions), a creative writing major at University of New Orleans, and a teaching artist in Southern Louisiana. Her work can be found in Words Dance lit magazine, Allen Review, Ellipsis, Tandem, and many online reviews.

You can keep up with her work, and purchase her two chapbooks, “The Year of the Institution” and “Dimly Lit” at poemsbydes.tumblr.com.



For bookings, email Desireé Dallagiacomo at d.dallagiacomo@gmail.com.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Sedona Poetry Slam heads to Clarkdale this Sunday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m.

Poets are invited to compete at the Made in Clarkdale Poetry Slam at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, at Clark Memorial Clubhouse, 19 N. Ninth St, Clarkdale, Arizona.

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. While many people may think of poetry as dull and laborious, a poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays.

The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.

1st, 2nd and 3rd Place

Poets of all ages are welcome to compete for the cash prizes for first, second and third place.

Top Teen Poet

 Additionally, the top-scoring poet age 18 and younger will also win a cash prize, whether or not he or she also ranks in the top three overall. Teens will compete alongside adult poets, judged by the same random on the same criteria.

Slam poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted.

All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity.

Earn Points Toward the Sedona Grand Slam

The slam is the second the 2014-15 Sedona Poetry Slam season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's fourth National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

The National Poetry Slam

There will be seven slams in the regular season, six in Sedona and one in Clarkdale. The final Grand Poetry Slam takes place next spring, to determine the team. The local poets will share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression. Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third to Oakland, Calif., in August.

The slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on seven FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

Contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam.
The list thus far is:
The Klute
Claire Pearson
Rowie Shebala
Peyton Drake
Stephen Tankesly
Sadie King
Danielle Glick
Dylan Capello
Mariah Jones
Devin Krekelberg
Wes Johnson
Cody Burkett
Klint McKean

What is Made in Clarkdale?

Founded in 1986, the annual Made in Clarkdale is a nine-day arts festival celebrate the vibrant arts scene of those who live, work and create in the town of Clarkdale. For more information, visit www.madeinclarkdale.org.

What is Poetry Slam?

Founded in Chicago in 1984 by construction worker Marc Smith, 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.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

"The Friend Zone" by Justin Lamb and Desireé Dallagiacomo

The "friend zone" is awesome. Here's proof:

"The Friend Zone" by Justin Lamb and Desireé Dallagiacomo performed at the 2014 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif.

Justin Lamb is an educator, writer and a 2013 National Poetry Slam champion. A two-time Slam New Orleans Grand Slam Champion, Justin has represented New Orleans at regional and national competitions for the last four years as member of the nationally acclaimed Team Slam New Orleans (Team SNO).

He is also the author of a live performance poetry album titled "However It Turns Out Is Perfect."

If you would like to enlist Justin to host a workshop or perform at a venue near you, you can contact him at: justin.a.lamb [a] gmail.com.

For more information, visit his website justinpoet.com.


Desireé Dallagiacomo is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a member of Slam New Orleans (2-time NPS Champions), a creative writing major at University of New Orleans, and a teaching artist in Southern Louisiana.

Her work can be found in Words Dance lit magazine, Allen Review, Ellipsis, Tandem, and many online reviews. You can keep up with her work, and purchase her two chapbooks, “The Year of the Institution” and “Dimly Lit at poemsbydes.tumblr.com.

For bookings, email Desireé Dallagiacomo at d.dallagiacomo@gmail.com.




Subscribe to Button! New video daily: http://bit.ly/buttonpoetry
If you loved this poem, check out Melissa Newman-Evans: http://bit.ly/1oVZHm6
Performing for New Orleans during the 2014 National Poetry Slam.

Follow Button on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SG5Xm0

About Button:

Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.

We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

"Brown Boy. White House" by Amir Safi


Performed for the Austin National Poetry Slam Team during semifinals at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Boston, Mass.

"Brown Boy. White House"
by Amir Safi

I once asked my father,
If it was okay not go to daycare anymore.
He smiled and asked, "Why?"
and I still have trouble giving him straight answers.
So he watched one day as a group of white children pulled his son from the monkey bars.
Screaming.

I still have calluses on my hands.
I still have a hard time letting things go.
The teachers explained to my father that this is how children play.
Twenty years later and this is still how we play.
So he pulled me from their care and put me in a church,
where I learned that Jesus still has calluses on his hands.
He still has a hard time letting some people go.
Growing up in Texas,
One learns to practice patience,
Practice repetition patience,
Patience makes perfect.

The best birthday present I get every year is a telephone call from my grandmother.
I remember walking with her through department stores as people would stare.
I remember getting very angry because I was taught it was impolite to stare.
I was taught that was not the purpose of a hijab.
I believe this is why people have stopped wearing their faith,
Unless it can be conveniently concealed under their shirt.
Maybe if people don't stare then God won't either.
Growing up in Texas,
One learns to practice patience,
Practice repetition patience,
Patience makes perfect.
I was made fun of for being Mexican, until 9/11. Then it was Arab or terrorist. I'm not Persian that country no longer exists. Iranian- American is an oxymoron Muslim-American a paradox.
A girl asks me, "Where are you from then, Amir?"
I answer, "Well, I was born in Iowa."
She then says, "Oh really, is that in the Middle East?"
A boy approaches me in a high school hallway and says,
"If you were from Afghanistan, I'd beat your ass."
The three words I should've said were "I love you."
Instead I said, "Wish you would!"
It was then I understood how your Patriots' Act. If the French gave us the Statue of Liberty in 2003, we would have given it back because they didn't go to war with us in Ee-rock/Eye-rack.
When the French did give us the Statue of Liberty,
we gave her back.
At first,
she was black.

Save diversity for a skittles package,
but even then we all pick our favorites.

We like our borders like our picket fences. WHITE WASHED.
A red boy is given a white name.
Black slaves paint a white house.
Public schools teach that it is important to assimilate,
so a yellow girl's parents do the same.
But, how will they ever learn how to pronounce our names if we keep changing them?
Do you think people naturally know how to pronounce Cry-stal or Chris-top-her?
English is neither phonetic nor forgiving,
That's why I find comfort when a boy named Cassius molds his last name into Ali in an attempt to salvage his identity. The ring is the only time he faced a fair fight.
If black is the culmination of all colors, then why do we keep trying to stir this melting pot white?
My name is Amir Safi. I still have calluses on my hands. I still have a hard time letting things go.



Amir Safi © 2013


Amir Safi’s poetry is the result of a collision between his Iranian culture and his Texan upbringing. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he received a degree in Biology.

“What better subject to study than the science of life?”

While in school, he co-founded 501(c)(3) poetry nonprofit Mic Check and the Texas Grand Slam Poetry Festival.

Upon moving to Houston, Amir founded Write About Now Poetry, a weekly poetry slam and open-mic that meets every Wednesday at 7:30 PM at Avantgarden. Amir is the 2013 Southern Fried Poetry Slam Champion, a 2013 National Poetry Slam semi-finalist, a featured artist on Upworthy, and he has performed at shows and concerts featuring performers ranging from Anis Mojgani to Stalley.

For more information, contact or booking, like Amir on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amirsafipoetry

Rick Grimes vs Walter White. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 3


▼ CAST ▼

Walter White: EpicLLOYD
http://www.youtube.com/EpicLLOYD
https://twitter.com/theEpicLloyd |http://instagram.com/theepiclloyd

Rick Grimes: Nice Peter
http://www.youtube.com/NicePeter
http://twitter.com/NicePeter | http://instagram.com/nicepeter

Zombies: Amy Bury, Neil Blan, Ray Timmons and Tom Walsh

▼ CREW ▼

Created by: Peter Shukoff & Lloyd Ahlquist
Directed by: Nice Peter and Mike Betette

Written by: Nice Peter, EpicLLOYD & Zach Sherwin
Staff Writer: Dante Cimadamore - http://youtube.com/givememotion
Staff Writer: Mike Betette

Beat Produced by: Blitz Beats
http://www.blitzbeats.com

Song Produced by: Nice Peter & Jose "Choco" Reynoso
Song Mixed by: Jose "Choco" Reynoso and Nice Peter
http://www.1200warriors.com

Edited by: Andrew Sherman, Daniel Turcan, and Nice Peter

VFX Compositor: Andrew Sherman

Director of Photography: Jon Na
Costume Designer: Sulai Lopez
Make Up: Ashlyn Melancon
Gaffer: Arthur Hong
Grip: Yev Belilovsky
Music Supervisor & Playback: Dante Cimadamore
Production Coordinator: Atul Singh
Assistant Editors: Ryan Moulton & Marc Chester
Office PA: Shaun Lewin
Key Make Up Artist: Brittany White
Make Up Assistant: Tina Cohen
RV Background: Eugenio Garcia

Produced by Michelle Maloney.

Download the free ERB App:
iPhone ► http://erb.fm/cr
iPad ► http://erb.fm/ao
Android ► http://erb.fm/fk

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Sedona Poetry Slam 2014-2015 Schedule

Sedona Poetry Slam in Sedona:
  • Saturday, Nov. 1
  • Saturday, Jan. 3 
  • Saturday, Jan. 31
  • Saturday, March 7
  • Saturdays, April 11
  • Saturdays, May 2
All slams start at 7:30 p.m., and are held at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Suite A3. Sedona, AZ 86336 (928) 282-1177


Monday, November 3, 2014

Made in Clarkdale Poetry Slam on Sunday, Dec. 7

Poets are invited to compete at the Made in Clarkdale Poetry Slam at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, at Clark Memorial Clubhouse, 19 N. Ninth St, Clarkdale, Arizona.

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. While many people may think of poetry as dull and laborious, a poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays.

The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam. Poets of all ages are welcome to compete for the cash prizes for first, second and third place. Additionally, the top-scoring poet age 18 and younger will also win a cash prize, whether or not he or she also ranks in the top three overall. Teens will compete alongside adult poets, judged by the same random on the same criteria.

Slam poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted.

All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity.

The slam is the second the 2014-15 Sedona Poetry Slam season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's fourth National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

There will be seven slams in the regular season, six in Sedona and one in Clarkdale. The final Grand Poetry Slam takes place next spring, to determine the team. The local poets will share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression. Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third to Oakland, Calif., in August.

The slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on seven FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

Contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam.

What is Made in Clarkdale?

Founded in 1986, the annual Made in Clarkdale is a nine-day arts festival celebrate the vibrant arts scene of those who live, work and create in the town of Clarkdale. For more information, visit www.madeinclarkdale.org.

What is Poetry Slam?

Founded in Chicago in 1984 by construction worker Marc Smith, 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.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Interview questions about Sedona slam poet Claire Pearson

I was recently interviewed about Sedona poet Claire Pearson by a student at Northern Arizona University. These are my answers.

1) How long have you know Claire Pearson?

Photo courtesy of Zack Garcia
A few hours short of 14 months. I met Claire Pearson at 8:35 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, at 34°51'56.5"N 111°47'42.2"W, beneath the light in a parking lot whereupon we spoke for the better part of two hours about our views of poetry, poetic theory, the ghosts of dead men and the lack of good coffee shops catering to the 18 to 21 crowd in Sedona.

2) How have you seen her grow?

In the time I have known her, she has grown approximately 1/6th of an inch, if measured from heel to crown, ignoring variations in stance, pose and bouffant. Based on these observations, I expect that if her rate of growth is logarithmic, she will grow at most an inch by the time she is of legal drinking age, although I suspect she will still be carded until at least age 30 due to her height and unusually large neotenic eyes, although if her rate of growth is linear, by the time she is 100 years old, she will be 11.57 inches taller.

When I first met Claire Pearson, she was a veteran and the de facto captain of the Sedona youth poetry slam team, Young Voices Be Heard, and had competed at several Brave New Voices regionals.
As a Brave New Voices veteran, she knew as coaches many of the national and regional slam poets that I knew as peers.

Although loosely affiliated, Brave New Voices and Poetry Slam Inc. are two separate nonprofit poetry slam organizations. Many “adult” slam poets who have an affinity to mentoring young people crossover from the PSI scene to coach local youth teams in their home cities, while many others leave the PSI scene altogether to coach BNV teams exclusively. As structured in relation to PSI, BNV sees itself as the minor league of PSI, grooming young talent who “graduate” into the big leagues of PSI.
As a high school graduate but not yet 19 years old when I met her, Pearson was effectively at the peak of her growth in BNV and was about to age out of eligibility. She was looking to continue slamming as an adult and I provided the means to introduce her into Northern Arizona’s PSI scene.
Coming into the adult scene already with years of writing and slamming experience behind her, Pearson was able to skip passed the angst-ridden and derivative poetry that many first-year adult slam poets create before they find their voice.

Pearson had already found her voice as a heavily metaphoric, narrative poet with confessional and quasi-romantic tendencies by the time I was introduced to her work. Through slamming against college students and adults twice and three times her age, she has made her work edgier and more accessible to general audiences while still maintaining her metaphoric imagery.

Pearson has learned how to write from a feminine perspective in a competitive linguistic sport that is all too often dominated by the male gaze. She has also been able to exorcise many of those ghosts of dead men, whom she still holds dear but which no longer dictate what and how she writes exclusively. Most importantly, she has moved from being a confident though sometimes timid poet to being to hold her own in slams against national poets, some of whom have toured professionally or competed on the finals stage at the Individual World Poetry Slam.

3) How can you tell she loves slamming and poetry?

Pearson is open to criticism of her work as well as offering criticism of others, not just in the surface of performance flubs or cliché lines, but in the root and structure of the poems and performances. After a slam, we can discuss the atmosphere of the room or why a poem did or didn’t work given the particulars of the audience and the poems, showing that she is not just waiting to read but is critically listening to the work on the stage and how it is presented.

Pearson makes the trip from Sedona to slam in Flagstaff weekly or at least attend the slams as a spectator. She earned a slot on the FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team in her first year, an accomplishment very few poets have been able to achieve as it usually takes several years to work up the skill and talent to win a slot.

Pearson attends slams outside her home city, which is also something many young poets, especially those in a relatively isolated city like Flagstaff, do not do. In part, she has a network of friends in the poetry scene which makes traveling less intimidating and more of an adventure, but she also has learned how to adapt her work to audiences of differing demographics rather than repeating poems by rote in hopes that they stick with audiences regardless of location. She doesn’t slam just to win, like many poets do without understanding the “why”, nor does she slam just to vent, but rather uses to the experience in whole and in part to develop herself as an artist. That dedication to grow artistically is why audience members who see her week after week are willing to reward her effort, even if as a Sedona émigré she is outside the clique engendered by the somewhat insular Flagstaff poetry scene.

4) What makes her stand out from other slammers and poets?

 Pearson offers a voice unique to Flagstaff as a veteran poet. Due to the transitory nature of college students at Northern Arizona University, the Flagstaff poetry scene does not grow like a typical non-college art scene does. Poetry scenes in large cities have poets who spend years or decades in their scene, serving as mentors and growing into icons to either cherish, challenge or learn from, but few NAU graduates remain in Flagstaff, thus taking what they’ve learned and developed to other scenes away after only a few years. In essence, it’s hard to develop a slam family legacy in Flagstaff. While some poets bloom early and develop their voice quickly, most poets take several years to become who they are meant to, and by then, just as they’re reaching their first artistic peak, they’re ready to move on to communities that can support their careers.

Many first year rookies write what they think they should, which is why many poems sound familiar or similar, regardless of the poets’ backgrounds or personal histories.

With those growth years already behind her, Pearson is able to hone her craft and show many of the poets her age or older what they can become once they have half a decade of writing under their belt. As such, Pearson is a sort of a poetic oracle, showing the path other poets can walk should they pursue our art form with the same sort of tenacity she does.

Claire Pearson will be one of the poets competing at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Nov. 1


Poets and audience members are invited to the first Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2014-15, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Suite A-3.


Click here to buy tickets, which are $12.

Slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. While many people may think of poetry as dull and laborious, a poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporters Jeanne and Jim Freeland.

The slam is the first the 2014-15 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's fourth National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona and Cottonwood, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

There will be seven slams in the regular season, six in Sedona and one in Clarkdale. The final Grand Poetry Slam takes place next spring, to determine the team.

Slam poets will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted.

All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity.

The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.

Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive.

The local poets will share the stage with 350 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression. Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and its third to Oakland, Calif., in August.

The slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on seven FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

Contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam.

What is Poetry Slam?
Founded in Chicago in 1984 by construction worker Marc Smith, 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.