Evan Dissinger wins the sixth Sedona Poetry Slam of 2014

Round 1
Poet	Score	Time	Penalty	Net Score
Maya Hall	22.1	2:10	0.0	22.1
EJ McCormick	21.1	3:30	-1.5	19.6
Jeff Berger	14.9	3:32	-1.5	13.4
Leano Rice	25.7	3:38	-1.5	24.2
Gary Every	23.8	4:11	-3.5	20.3
Dan Seaman	28.1	4:33	-4.5	23.6
Gabbi Jue	23.7	2:26	0.0	23.7
Joe Griffin	24.0	1:25	0.0	24.0
Cindy Rowe	24.8	1:07	0.0	24.8
The Klute	26.7	2:55	0.0	26.7
Valence	27.5	2:44	0.0	27.5
James Gould	27.1	2:18	0.0	27.1
Evan Dissinger	29.0	3:23	-1.0	28.0
Joy Young	27.7	3:05	0.0	27.7
Josh Wiss	25.9	2:52	0.0	25.9
Round 2
Poet	Score	Time	Penalty	Net Score
Josh Wiss	28.3	2:19	0.0	28.3
Joy Young	28.4	3:10	0.0	28.4
Evan Dissinger	28.6	2:13	0.0	28.7
James Gould	27.0	1:50	0.0	27.0
Valence	28.2	2:36	0.0	28.2
The Klute	26.5	3:07	0.0	26.5
Cindy Rowe	24.7	0:48	0.0	24.7
Joe Griffin	25.5	1:18	0.0	25.5
Gabbi Jue	28.0	2:29	0.0	28.0
Dan Seaman	28.3	3:46	-2.0	26.3
Gary Every	26.4	5:34	-7.5	18.9
Leano Rice	26.2	2:39	0.0	26.2
Jeff Berger	20.3	2:13	0.0	20.3
EJ McCormick	25.8	2:45	0.0	25.8
Maya Hall	26.9	2:33	0.0	26.9
Round 3
Poet	Score	Time	Penalty	Net Score
Evan Dissinger	27.9	2:31	0.0	27.9
Valence	28.1	1:52	0.0	28.1
Joy Young	28.0	2:56	0.0	28.0
Josh Wiss	28.6	2:03	0.0	28.6
James Gould	28.6	2:50	0.0	28.6
Final
Poet	Score
Evan Dissinger	84.5
Joy Young	84.1
Valence	83.8
Josh Wiss	82.8
James Gould	82.7
The Klute	53.2
Gabbi Jue	51.7
Leano Rice	50.4
Dan Seaman	49.9
Joe Griffin	49.5
Cindy Rowe	49.5
Maya Hall	49.0
EJ McCormick	45.4
Gary Every	39.2
Jeff Berger	33.7

"Liars, All of Us" by Chad Anderson

Chad Anderson performs his poem, "Liars, All of Us" in the NYC-Urbana Poetry Slam's 2009 MegaQuasiSemiFinals.

For more information on the NYC-Urbana Poetry Slam, visit: http://www.bowerypoetry.com/

"Complainers" by Rudy Francisco

Rudy Francisco was born and raised in San Diego, Calif. At age 21, Francisco completed his B.A. in psychology and decided to continue his education by pursuing a M.A. in organizational leadership.

As an artist, Francisco combines activism and poetry to enlighten the minds of those who witness his performance. Francisco eloquently absorbs the experiences of those around him, synthesizes them and converts their stories into poetry.

Furthermore, Francisco has made conscious efforts to cultivate young poets and expose the youth to the genre of Spoken Word Poetry through workshops and performances at schools and community centers. Francisco has also received admiration from institutions of higher education. He has conducted guest lectures and performances at numerous colleges and universities around the nation.

In addition to his contributions to education, Francisco is also the co-host of the largest poetry venue in San Diego and has featured at countless venues and won the hearts of many with the honesty and conviction held in his words. Ultimately, Francisco's goal is to continue to assist others in harnessing their creativity while cultivating his own.

Francisco is the 2009 National Underground Poetry Slam Champion, the 2010 San Diego Grand Slam Champion, the 2010 San Francisco Grand Slam Champion and the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion.

Twitter: @Rudyfrancisco
Booking: rudyfrancisco.booking@gmail.com
Instagram: rudyfrancisco
Facebook: Facebook/rudyfranciscopoetry

"Fat Girl" by Megan Falley

Megan Falley, Spoken Word Artist and author of After the Witch Hunt (Write Bloody Publishing 2012) performs "Fat Girl" a poem written after Angel Nafis, after Terrance Hayes.

Want More Megan?

To book her at your university, book store, venue, library, open mic and more, e-mail MeganFalley@gmail.com

Buy her nationally acclaimed book here.

"The Madness Vase" by Andrea Gibson

"The Madness Vase"

by Andrea Gibson

The nutritionist said I should eat root vegetables,
said if I could get down thirteen turnips each day
I would be grounded, rooted.
Said my head would not keep flying away to where the darkness lives.

The psychic told me my heart carries too much weight,
said for twenty dollars she’d tell me what to do.
I handed her the twenty and she said, “Stop worrying, darling,
you will find a good man soon.”

The first psycho-therapist said I should spend three hours a day
sitting in a dark closet with my eyes closed and my ears plugged.
I tried it once but couldn’t stop thinking
about how gay it was to be sitting in the closet.

The yogi told me to stretch everything but the truth,
said focus on the out breath,
said everyone finds happiness
if they can care more about what they can give
than what they get.

The pharmacist said Klonopin, Lamictal, Lithium, Xanax.

The doctor said an antipsychotic might help me forget
what the trauma said.

The trauma said, “Don’t write this poem.
Nobody wants to hear you cry about the grief inside your bones.”

But my bones said, “Tyler Clementi dove into the Hudson River
convinced he was entirely alone.”

My bones said, “Write the poem.”
To the lamplight considering the river bed,
to the chandelier of your faith hanging by a thread,
to everyday you cannot get out of bed,
to the bullseye of your wrist,
to anyone who has ever wanted to die:

I have been told sometimes the most healing thing we can do
is remind ourselves over and over and over
other people feel this too.

The tomorrow that has come and gone
and it has not gotten better.

When you are half finished writing that letter
to your mother that says “I swear to God I tried,
but when I thought I’d hit bottom, it started hitting back.”

There is no bruise like the bruise
loneliness kicks into your spine
so let me tell you I know there are days
it looks like the whole world is dancing in the streets
while you break down like the doors of their looted buildings.
You are not alone
in wondering who will be convicted of the crime
of insisting you keep loading your grief
into the chamber of your shame.

You are not weak
just because your heart feels so heavy.
I have never met a heavy heart that wasn’t a phone booth
with a red cape inside.

Some people will never understand
the kind of superpower it takes for some people
to just walk outside some days.
I know my smile can look like the gutter of a falling house
but my hands are always holding tight to the rip cord of believing
a life can be rich like the soil,
can make food of decay,
turn wound into highway.

Pick me up in a truck with that bumper sticker that says,
“It is no measure of good health
to be well adjusted to a sick society.”

I have never trusted anyone
with the pulled back bow of my spine
the way I trusted ones who come undone at the throat
screaming for their pulses to find the fight to pound.
Four nights before Tyler Clementi
jumped from the George Washington bridge
I was sitting in a hotel room in my own town
calculating exactly what I had to swallow
to keep a bottle of sleeping pills down.

What I know about living
is the pain is never just ours.
Every time I hurt I know the wound is an echo,
so I keep listening for the moment the grief becomes a window,
when I can see what I couldn’t see before
through the glass of my most battered dream
I watched a dandelion lose its mind in the wind
and when it did, it scattered a thousand seeds.

So the next time I tell you how easily I come out of my skin
don’t try to put me back in.
Just say, “Here we are” together at the window
aching for it to all get better
but knowing there is a chance
our hearts may have only just skinned their knees,
knowing there is a chance the worst day might still be coming

let me say right now for the record,
I’m still gonna be here
asking this world to dance,
even if it keeps stepping on my holy feet.

You, you stay here with me, okay?
You stay here with me.

Raising your bite against the bitter dark,
your bright longing,
your brilliant fists of loss.
Friend, if the only thing we have to gain in staying is each other,
my god that is plenty
my god that is enough
my god that is so so much for the light to give
each of us at each other’s backs
whispering over and over and over,
“Live. Live. Live.”

Andrea Gibson © 2011

Andrea Gibson is a spoken word artist and activist who travels around the country with readings on sexuality, class, white privilege, gender, love, war, bullying, and mental health. The first winner of the Women of the World poetry slam, Andrea’s work has been featured on the BBC, Air America, C-SPAN, Free Speech TV, and in 2010 was read by a state representative in lieu of morning prayer at the Utah State Legislature. Andrea is thrilled to have this space to dialogue with you all about trauma, suicide, and the things that keep us here and wanting to be here.

"The Dress Poem" by Joy Young

Poets from around Arizona will compete in Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, May 17

Poets are invited to compete at the sixth Sedona Poetry Slam of 2014, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Suite A-3.

Tickets are $12. The link to order tickets online is here.

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

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 sixth the 2014 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's third 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.

The is the last slam of the regular season. The final Grand Poetry Slam takes place Saturday, June 7, 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 300 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., and its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass. The 2014 National Poetry Slam will be held in 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 and 2013. He recently earned a slot on the 2014 FlagSlam team which will compete alongside the Sedona team at Nationals. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

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.

"To the Boys Who May One Day Date My Daughter" by Jesse Parent

Check out Jesse's book at his website Jesster.net

Download the audio of this poem for freeby clicking here.

Performing during the Coaches Slam at the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. Find out more about Jesse at http://www.jesseparent.com

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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.

A brief history of FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Teams

December 2000, FlagSlam founded.

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.

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. 

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

First tie at NPS: New York City-Urbana and Detroit

In 2003, 14th National Poetry Slam in Chicago, Ill.:
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.

In 2004: 15th National Poetry Slam in St. Louis, Mo.:
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.

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.

In 2006: 17th National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas:
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.

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 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

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

In 2010: 21st National Poetry Slam in St. Paul, Minn:
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)
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.

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. 

In 2012: 23rd National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.:
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Ryan Brown
Tara Pollock (tied)
Shaun “nodalone” Srivastava (tied)
Alternate: Jackson Morris (Joined team)

In 2013: 24th National Poetry Slam in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, Mass.:
Grand Slam Champion: Christopher Fox Graham
Jackson Morris
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)

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 ("fuck that guy")

“Poetry is not dead” by Sam Hasell

Sam Hasell is a young slam poet based in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, Australia. He produced this work as part of the Foundation for Young Australia’s Propeller Project -  a platform to inspire young Australians to create social change in their local communities.

Button Poetry presents: “A Good Day” by Kait Rokowski

“A Good Day”

by Kait Rokowski

Yesterday, I spent 60 dollars on groceries,
took the bus home,
carried both bags with two good arms back to my studio apartment
and cooked myself dinner.
You and I may have different definitions of a good day.
This week, I paid my rent and my credit card bill,
worked 60 hours between my two jobs,
only saw the sun on my cigarette breaks
and slept like a rock.
Flossed in the morning,
locked my door,
and remembered to buy eggs.
My mother is proud of me.
It is not the kind of pride she brags about at the golf course.
She doesn’t combat topics like, ”My daughter got into Yale”
with, ”Oh yeah, my daughter remembered to buy eggs”
But she is proud.
See, she remembers what came before this.
The weeks where I forgot how to use my muscles,
how I would stay as silent as a thick fog for weeks.
She thought each phone call from an unknown number was the notice of my suicide.
These were the bad days.
My life was a gift that I wanted to return.
My head was a house of leaking faucets and burnt-out lightbulbs.
Depression, is a good lover.
So attentive; has this innate way of making everything about you.
And it is easy to forget that your bedroom is not the world,
That the dark shadows your pain casts is not mood-lighting.
It is easier to stay in this abusive relationship than fix the problems it has created.
Today, I slept in until 10,
cleaned every dish I own,
fought with the bank,
took care of paperwork.
You and I might have different definitions of adulthood.
I don’t work for salary, I didn’t graduate from college,
but I don’t speak for others anymore,
and I don’t regret anything I can’t genuinely apologize for.
And my mother is proud of me.
I burned down a house of depression,
I painted over murals of greyscale,
and it was hard to rewrite my life into one I wanted to live
But today, I want to live.
I didn’t salivate over sharp knives,
or envy the boy who tossed himself off the Brooklyn bridge.
I just cleaned my bathroom,
did the laundry,
called my brother.
Told him, “it was a good day.”

Copyright © Kait Rokowski

"Go Fish" by Thadra Sheridan

Published on Mar 10, 2014. For full poems, more videos, and booking information visit thadrasheridan.com

"Go Fish"

 by Thadra Sheridan

I don't have any track marks.
Hard drugs are for the cowardly and uncreative.
The only interesting thing about doing them
is not doing them any more.
I hear that's hard.
And, maybe,
coming up with enough cash to fund a good solid
mom-busts-into-your-room, intervention, re-hab-bound habit.
But you can just scramble for rent
and save your septum.
Self abuse isn't radical.
It's just lazy.
You want to be real hard-core?
Do your laundry and make it to work on time.
Look at your own dying face in the mirror.
My father
chased every day of his life since thirty with a bottle of scotch.
I am not impressed.
He just saved himself the trouble
of having to raise his own children.
And everyone noticed.
Where's the subtlety in that?
You can knock decades off your life with a little ingenuity,
and noone'll be the wiser.
See the trick is...
Having the balls to devour your own flesh while everyone's watching.
Now that
is BAD ASS!
Cries for help are for the weak.
I don't even ask for directions in small towns.
Oh, I'm not saying I aint had it hard.
I've had to build closet organizers
to accommodate my skeletons.
But I don't need to
torture myself with butcher knives and sleeping pills, I just
get out of bed every morning.
There are a thousand imaginative ways to push yourself to the edge.
Time is helping me along.
I don't have patience for the maudlin and painfully obvious.
My mother is proud of her child.
I am a responsible and upstanding citizen.
But i have invented fifty-three silent killers,
and they're eating me alive while you watch.
My therapist says.....
I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING THERAPIST!!
I write poetry
and spend that hundred dollars an hour
on new shoes.
I wear two rapes on my lapel
like merit badges.
I drink
to prove I don't have to be my father.
At any given moment there are
fifteen monkeys
poised to jump on my back.
But not one of them can quite get a grip, because
there isn't a drug harder to master
than self-control.
So you want to shove needles up your arm, or
whittle yourself away, vomiting ex-lax?
Be my guest.
That just clears you off my teetering path
across the winking eyelid of doom.
And I'll be damned if I don't make it
to the opposite tear duct.
You see in life,
you have two choices:
You can take every short stick you've been handed
and build crutches to limp around on.
You won't get far,
but you'll get pity.
Or you can use them
as a tool
to chisel a mark so deep in posterity
you'd have to sandblast right through to erase it.
I take every bad card I've been dealt
and play a marathon game of go fish
with the demons from my waking reality.
I run tragedy through my head
like a laundry list of reasons I'm still
walking under the weight.
I drag every fucked-up thing that's ever happened
behind me like a dead chain gang.
And I'm not cutting one of them loose.
They're helping me build muscle mass.
I don't have hope.
I've got tenacity,
and an insight into this fresh hell that'd put a newborn puppy on prozac.
So what're you going to do?
You going to let that demon win?
Carve "Uncle" across your chest
with razor blades and cigarette burns?
Or you going to look him straight in the eye and say,
"Go Fish"

Copyright © Thadra Sheridan

Live from the Starry Plough in Berkeley, California

Video process by Wolf and Holmes Studios

Slam poetry gets the "Colbert Bump" thanks to Steven Colbert's interview of Saul Williams

The Colbert Report
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Colbert Report on Facebook

A leading voice on the spoken-word scene, Saul Williams began astonishing open mic audiences with his impassioned tongue-twisting verse in the mid-1990s and eventually became a grand slam champion at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. 

In 1996, he led the four-person New York team to the finals of the National Poetry Slam competition, a fierce battle of verse that was chronicled in the documentary film "Slamnation." Two years later, in a role that featured many of his own compositions, Williams played an imprisoned street poet in the award-winning film, Slam, for which Esquire magazine deemed him a "dreadlocked dervish of words."

A self-proclaimed disciple of Bob Kaufman and Amiri Baraka, Williams combines the rhythms and themes of Beat and Black Arts poets in his work. His three collections of poetry--The Seventh Octave, Sãhe, and , said the shotgun to the head--tackle difficult social and political issues as well as intangible questions about religion and spirituality. In performance, his work is full of a pulsing frenzy, which the New York Times described as "mind-twisting cosmic rumination with hallucinatory science-fiction scenarios that the poet delivers with an incantatory fervor."

The undeniable beat in the poet's work led to an inevitable transition to music. Initially, he collaborated with DJs and hip-hop artists, reciting his verse to their backbeat. In 2001, he recorded his own album, Amethyst Rock Star, co-produced by Rick Rubin, the legendary producer of Public Enemy, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the co-founder of the record label Def Jam with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons. In 2004, Williams released the self-titled album Saul Williams, for which, as he explained, he approached the music as a musician, not as a spoken-word artist. "The last [album] was about poetry over beats," he said in a recent interview, "and this is about the songs."

Despite his shift toward songwriting, the words are still of utmost importance to Williams. Demonstrating a political consciousness through his poems and songs is vital. He feels the current hip-hop culture has departed from the thought-provoking work of such artists as Public Enemy and De La Soul to a more inane preoccupation with materialism and a dangerous tolerance of what he calls "bullshit lyricism." He warns against the dangerous and passive acceptance of these negative lyrics transmitted through an infectious beat: "You start building a tolerance," he explained. "Because when you nod your head to a beat, you nod your head affirmatively."

On his own records, Williams has managed to marry hip-hop beats with sober lyrics. "Amethyst Rock Star has to do with the fact that when you're tuned into your spirit you realize that we are all stars by birth," the poet has said. "That's our birthright, literally." The band accompanying him is comprised of a violinist, a cellist, a bass player, a keyboard player, a DJ, and a drummer, resulting in an album that the Times of London named "Album of the Year."

The album Saul Williams was influenced by a wide range of artists including Jimmy Hendrix, Radiohead, and the Mars Volta, and resulted in a fusion that Williams calls "industrial punk hop." Brian Orloff, writing in Rolling Stone magazine, explained: "Musically, Saul Williams matches Williams's lyrics with gritty, frittered guitar and urgent rhythms. 'List of Demands (Reparations)' finds Williams singing, "I gotta list of demands written on the palm of my hands' over a staccato guitar riff that sounds like gunfire.'"

"I'm definitely a hip-hop head by nature," Williams has said. "I'm there in the mix, so I'm turned on by the same things, nod my head to the same things. Even if I'm writing a piece of prose, there is still an intrinsic rhythm that I'm looking for, even without rhyme, even without beats, even without music and microphones."

Sedona Poetry Grand Slam is Saturday, June 7

The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam is Saturday, June 7.

The last slam of the regular season will be held Saturday, May 17. Earn your last points poets and compete for the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team.

Gabbi Jue wins the fifth Sedona Poetry Slam of 2014

Round 1
Poet	Score	Time	Penalty	Net Score
Verbal Kensington	24.1	1:39	0.0	24.1
Andres Lopez	19.6	3:01	0.0	19.6
Josh Wiss	24.0	2:18	0.0	24.0
James Gould	16.7	2:33	0.0	16.7
Gabbi Jue	24.7	2:26	0.0	24.7
Issac Grambo	24.8	2:23	0.0	24.8
Danny McNulty	15.3	1:34	0.0	15.3
Doc	25.4	3:07	0.0	25.4
Dave Belkeiwitz	22.7	2:44	0.0	22.7
Rowie Shebala	24.4	2:42	0.0	24.4
Ryan Smalley	22.0	2:30	0.0	22.0
Claire Pearson	18.8	2:32	0.0	18.8
Tara Aitkin	16.2	1:24	0.0	16.2
Round 2
Poet	Score	Time	Penalty	Net Score
Tara Aitkin	14.6	2:52	0.0	14.6
Claire Pearson	18.2	2:11	0.0	18.2
Ryan Smalley	23.1	2:51	0.0	23.1
Rowie Shebala	24.4	2:22	0.0	24.4
Dave Belkeiwitz	19.4	3:10	0.0	19.4
Doc	21.3	1:43	0.0	21.3
Danny McNulty	17.8	1:36	0.0	17.8
Issac Grambo	24.8	3:15	-0.5	24.3
Gabbi Jue	28.2	2:50	0.0	28.2
James Gould	20.1	2:55	0.0	20.1
Josh Wiss	21.7	2:41	0.0	21.7
Andres Lopez	23.9	3:24	-1.0	22.9
Verbal Kensington	24.5	3:08	0.0	24.5
Round 3
Poet	Score	Time	Penalty	Net Score
Gabbi Jue	24.9	2:41	0.0	24.9
Issac Grambo	26.8	2:30	0.0	26.8
Rowie Shebala	28.5	2:44	0.0	28.5
Verbal Kensington	24.9	2:12	0.0	24.9
Doc	25.8	2:56	0.0	25.8
Final
Poet	Score
Gabbi Jue	77.8
Rowie Shebala	77.3
Issac Grambo	75.9
Verbal Kensington	73.5
Doc	72.5
Josh Wiss	45.7
Ryan Smalley	45.1
Andres Lopez	42.5
Dave Belkeiwitz	42.1
Claire Pearson	37.0
James Gould	36.8
Danny McNulty	33.1
Tara Aitkin	30.8

Poets from around Arizona will compete in Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, April 26

Poets are invited to compete at the fifth Sedona Poetry Slam of 2014, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Suite A-3.

Click here to buy tickets.

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 fifth the 2014 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's third 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.

The last slam of the regular season will be held Saturday, May 17. The final Grand Poetry Slam takes place Saturday, June 7, 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 300 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., and its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass.

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 and 2013. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

Tickets are $12.

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.