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.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sedona Poetry Slam season's final list of features

2012 Sedona Poetry Slam Season
Upcoming features:
Saturday, February 18
Feature: Aaron Johnson, Phoenix, AZ

Saturday, March 10
Feature: Seth Walker, Austin, Texas

Saturday, April 7
Feature: Bill Campana, Phoenix, AZ

Saturday, May 5
Feature: Sean Patrick Mulroy, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Past features:
Saturday, December 3
Feature: Jahnilli Akbar, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Saturday, January 7
Feature: Ryan Brown, Flagstaff, AZ

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Jahnilli Akbar, Sedona Poetry Slam 12-3-2011, teaser poem

Featured poet Jahnilli Akbar performs between the first and second rounds of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

(My camerawoman started the tape a few seconds too late, so the first few words are cut off. My apologies.)

New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.
Jahnilli Akbar is a 22-year-old poet and activist, born in Chicago and raised in northern Mississippi. Currently he splits his time between Harlem and Brooklyn, N.Y.

Akbar’s poetry is best defined as an artistic mesh of alternative black, Semitic and queer life in America.

Akbar won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award at the Wade-Lewis Invitational, the second largest colligate slam in the country with more than 100 participants, held at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Akbar is also the recipient of the 2011 Fresh Fruit Festival Queer Poet of the Year Award. He is a known face on the underground New York City art scene, as part of a movement called the Bushwick Renaissance, and as a member of Ground- Floor Collective, a leftist, African diaspora-based, predominately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer group of artists. The Ground-Floor Collective, the Brecht Forum & Malcolm X Grassroots Movement curates the annual Black August art show, a fundraiser for political prisoners abroad.

Many stages, venues and spaces have hosted Akbar’s poetry, including Nuyorican Poets’ Café, Bowery Poetry Club, Louder Arts, NYC Intangible Poetry Slam, SUNY New Paltz and the Brooklyn Museum, all in New York, the Seattle Poetry Slam, Chicago’s Mental Graffiti Slam and Wordplay Chicago.

In early November, Akbar published his first book, “Chronicles of a Contemporary Alternative American Negro,” and headed out on tour.

Ryan Brown performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Ryan Brown performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011


Flagstaff poet Ryan Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam
competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of the FlagSlam team,
getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009.
Ryan Brown is a poet's poet in every sense of the word. The mountain town of Flagstaff, is known for a poetry slam scene where poets come together as a community, and  Brown has been at the center of the growth as the FlagSlam Poetry Slam's slammaster since 2008.

A slammaster is the administrative representative of a poetry slam scene and its de facto leader.

Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam competitions as a member of the FlagSlam team, getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009. At the helm of Flagstaff's slam scene, Brown has brought in featured poets such as Andrea Gibson and Gypsee Yo to help reinvigorate the poetry community in a town now bursting with poetic flavor. After a three-month hiatus spent farming in Hawai'i at the tail end of 2010, Brown has shifted the FlagSlam's location to Sundara Boutique and Gallery, which is quickly becoming one of Flagstaff's best venues for performance art.

An English major at Northern Arizona University, Brown has been writing and performing poetry for over four years, collaborating often with poets such as Frank O'Brien, John Cartier, and Sedona's Jessica Guadarrama and Christopher Fox Graham. He writes with the future in mind, his poems often revolving around the intimacy of human relationships.

Due to graduate from NAU in 2012, Brown also cultivates obsessions with baseball, skateboarding, and coffee, spending most of his time at school or at work, living the life of a pedestrian in a town where every destination is reachable on foot. Keys, wallet, cell phone, pen, and notepad: The essential tools for this particular poet.

Valence performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 201

Valence performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011


Photo by Tara Graeber
Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence
Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence, is a poet among other things.
Valence has been a slam poet since 2010 and new to the format of slam, but not to the art of writing.
After living 14 years in Chicago, he has spent six years and
counting in Arizona.

Josh Wiss performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Josh Wiss performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Josh Wiss, Sedona National Poetry Slam Team, Sedona Poetry Slam, Studio Live

nodalone performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

nodalone performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011



Photo by Tara Graeber
Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, was a member
of the 2011 Flagslam National Poetry Slam Team.
Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, is a member of the 2011 Flagslam National Poetry Slam Team.

Originally from East Lansing, Michigan, nodalone moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.

He will complete degrees in both exercise science and psychology in 2012, with plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychology.

While quietly writing poetry for many years, nodalone has only recently begun performing his spoken word at slams and various events throughout Arizona.

Preferring to use his platform to address current political, cultural, and social issues, the poet gives a performance that captures the power of the issue in a personal and passionate style.

The Klute performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

The Klute performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

The Klute, aka Bernard Schober, competed at the National Poetry Slam six times, for the Mesa Slam Team in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the Phoenix Slam Slam Team in 2008 and 2009. He has led two of those teams to the NPS semi-final stage, ranking him among the best of the best nationwide. He was also the Mesa Grand Slam champion in 2005 and 2010.

Photo by Jessica Mason-Paull
Standing more than 6 feet tall and always bedecked in
a black trench coat, the Klute is hard to miss. When
poetry escapes his lips at full blast, he’s hard not to hear.
In an era when most artists and poets shy away from confronting politics, the Klute stands apart.

He has earned a reputation for in-your-face political commentary and over-the-top humor targeting Neo-Conservative politicians, crass laissez-faire commercialism and Goth subculture.

Originally from south Florida, The Klute writes almost exclusively in free verse, making his poetry conversational and relevant to even those who see poetry as something to avoid.

Standing more than 6 feet tall and always bedecked in a black trench coat, the Klute is hard to miss. When poetry escapes his lips at full blast, he’s hard not to hear.

The Klute has released three poetry chapbooks, "Escape Velocity," "Look at What America Has Done to Me" and "My American Journey," which prompted a cease and desist order from the attorneys of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“Despite the heat, [The Klute] wears a black trench coat almost everywhere he goes and if the setting permits, he’ll blast through enough slanderous commentary to make Andrew Dice Clay blush,” according to Phoenix 944 Magazine. “Today, his addiction for getting in front of the microphone and spitting out everything from a Dick Cheney haiku to a long-winded prose on race car driving to the late Hunter S. Thompson is as strong as his love for vodka and absinthe. If anyone’s seen ‘The Klute’ in action, they’d know it. If they haven’t, they must.”

Mikel Weisser performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Mikel Weisser performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Spencer Troth performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Spencer Troth performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Photo by Saar Ingelbert
Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster
Christopher "You Phonik" Harbster performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Friday, January 6, 2012

Jack Egan performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam, 12-3-2011

Jack Egan performs in the first round of the Sedona Poetry Slam on Dec. 3, 2011

Buy your tickets now for the Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Jan. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown.


All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team 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.

Ryan Brown
Flagstaff poet Ryan Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam
competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of the FlagSlam team,
getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009.
Ryan Brown is a poet's poet in every sense of the word. The mountain town of Flagstaff, is known for a poetry slam scene where poets come together as a community, and  Brown has been at the center of the growth as the FlagSlam Poetry Slam's slammaster since 2008.

A slammaster is the administrative representative of a poetry slam scene and its de facto leader.

Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam competitions as a member of the FlagSlam team, getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009. At the helm of Flagstaff's slam scene, Brown has brought in featured poets such as Andrea Gibson and Gypsee Yo to help reinvigorate the poetry community in a town now bursting with poetic flavor. After a three-month hiatus spent farming in Hawai'i at the tail end of 2010, Brown has shifted the FlagSlam's location to Sundara Boutique and Gallery, which is quickly becoming one of Flagstaff's best venues for performance art.

An English major at Northern Arizona University, Brown has been writing and performing poetry for over four years, collaborating often with poets such as Frank O'Brien, John Cartier, and Sedona's Jessica Guadarrama and Christopher Fox Graham. He writes with the future in mind, his poems often revolving around the intimacy of human relationships.

Due to graduate from NAU in 2012, Brown also cultivates obsessions with baseball, skateboarding, and coffee, spending most of his time at school or at work, living the life of a pedestrian in a town where every destination is reachable on foot. Keys, wallet, cell phone, pen, and notepad: The essential tools for this particular poet.

To compete in the slam, poets need at least three original poems, each three minutes long or shorter. No props, costumes or musical accompaniment are permitted. All types of poetry are welcome.

Photo by Harley Deuce
The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.
The Jan. 7 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between Dec. 3 and Saturday, May 5. Future slams will take place on Saturdays, Feb. 18, March 10, April 7 and May 5. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting and 1/2 point for calibrating. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C. All poets are eligible in the slamoff except those already confirmed members of or coaching another National Poetry Slam or College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational or Brave New Voices team. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

What is 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.


Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Jan. 7

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Jan. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring Flagstaff Slammaster Ryan Brown.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team 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.

Ryan Brown
Flagstaff poet Ryan Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam
competitions in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as a member of the FlagSlam team,
getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009.
Ryan Brown is a poet's poet in every sense of the word. The mountain town of Flagstaff, is known for a poetry slam scene where poets come together as a community, and  Brown has been at the center of the growth as the FlagSlam Poetry Slam's slammaster since 2008.

A slammaster is the administrative representative of a poetry slam scene and its de facto leader.

Brown has attended three National Poetry Slam competitions as a member of the FlagSlam team, getting as far as the semi-finals round in 2009. At the helm of Flagstaff's slam scene, Brown has brought in featured poets such as Andrea Gibson and Gypsee Yo to help reinvigorate the poetry community in a town now bursting with poetic flavor. After a three-month hiatus spent farming in Hawai'i at the tail end of 2010, Brown has shifted the FlagSlam's location to Sundara Boutique and Gallery, which is quickly becoming one of Flagstaff's best venues for performance art.

An English major at Northern Arizona University, Brown has been writing and performing poetry for over four years, collaborating often with poets such as Frank O'Brien, John Cartier, and Sedona's Jessica Guadarrama and Christopher Fox Graham. He writes with the future in mind, his poems often revolving around the intimacy of human relationships.

Due to graduate from NAU in 2012, Brown also cultivates obsessions with baseball, skateboarding, and coffee, spending most of his time at school or at work, living the life of a pedestrian in a town where every destination is reachable on foot. Keys, wallet, cell phone, pen, and notepad: The essential tools for this particular poet.

To compete in the slam, poets need at least three original poems, each three minutes long or shorter. No props, costumes or musical accompaniment are permitted. All types of poetry are welcome.

Photo by Harley Deuce
The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.
The Jan. 7 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between Dec. 3 and Saturday, May 5. Future slams will take place on Saturdays, Feb. 18, March 10, April 7 and May 5. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting and 1/2 point for calibrating. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C. All poets are eligible in the slamoff except those already confirmed members of or coaching another National Poetry Slam or College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational or Brave New Voices team. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

What is 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.

Tickets are $7 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Ryan Brown, Aaron Johnson, Bill Campana and Sean Patrick Mulroy to feature in Sedona

With the first slam of the 2012 Sedona Poetry Slam season down, these are our upcoming feature poets
  •  Saturday, Jan. 7: Ryan Brown, Flagstaff, AZ 
  •  Saturday, Feb. 18: Aaron Johnson, Phoenix, AZ
  •  Saturday, March 10: To be announced.
  •  Saturday, April 7: Bill Campana, Phoenix, AZ. Also National Poetry Month
  •  Saturday, May 5: Sean Patrick Mulroy, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Many thanks to Jahnilli Akbar, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who rocked the first slam on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Klute wins the December Sedona Poetry Slam

After a high-stakes Haiku Death Match, TheKlute wins the first Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2011-12 National Poetry Slam Season.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Mason-Paul
With his Dec. 3 win, The Klute now leads the Sedona National Poetry
Slam Team Standings.


Benediction: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
Round 1
Random Draw
Calibration:
Gary Every, of Sedona
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 27.4
Jack Egan, of Sedona, 25.4
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 26.1
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 26.8
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 26.5
The Klute, of Phoenix, 28.2
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.5
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 26.6
Valence, of Flagstaff, 27.8
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 28.9

Sorbet: Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City

Round 2
Reverse Order
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 27.3, 56.2
Valence, of Flagstaff, 26.4, 54.2
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 27.0, 53.6
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.0, 54.5
The Klute, of Phoenix, 28.5, 56.7
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 27.1, 53.6
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 25.4, 52.2
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 26.1, 52.2
Jack Egan, of Sedona, of , 000, 000
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 28.3, 55.7

Feature: Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Round 3
High to Low
The Klute, of Phoenix, 27.9, 84.6
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 28.4, 84.6
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 28.3, 000
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 27.8, 82.3
Valence, of Flagstaff, 27.4, 81.6
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 26.9, 80.5
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 27.0, 80.6
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 26.1, 78.3
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 26.5, 78.7
Jack Egan, of Sedona , 28.2, 79.9
Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Final Scores
The Klute, of Phoenix, 84.6, winning Haiku Death Match 3-2.
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 84.6, losing Haiku Death Match 3-2.
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix, 84.0
nodalone, of Flagstaff, 82.3
Valence, of Flagstaff, 81.6
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 80.6
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 80.5
Jack Egan, of Sedona, 79.9
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff, 78.7
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff, 78.3

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Slamoff Point Standings
4 points
The Klute, of Phoenix
3 points
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff
2 points
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix
1 point
Jahnilli Akbar, of New York City
Jack Egan, of Sedona
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
Christopher Harbster, of Flagstaff
nodalone, of Flagstaff
Spencer Troth, of Flagstaff
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
Valence, of Flagstaff
0.5 points
Gary Every, of Sedona

All You Need is Love, in 156 countries


Ah, John Lennon, you lost poet, look what you did to the world.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Tonight: New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar features at Sedona Poetry Slam

Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.

All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize.

Poets expected to slam tonight:
Jack Egan, Sedona
Shaun "Nodalone" Srivastava, Flagstaff
The Klute, Phoenix
Lauren Perry, Phoenix
George Yamazawa Jr., Durham, North Carolina
Thom Stanley, Sedona
Brian Towne, Flagstaff
Frank O'Brien, Prescott
Mikel Weisser, So-Hi (near Kingman)
Ryan Brown, Flagstaff
Gary Every, Sedona

The slam will the first of the 2011-12 season, expected to be more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year, poets will be competing for a slot in Sedona’s first National Poetry Slam Team.

After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has developed the reputation and strength to muster its own team to send to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team 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’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Dec. 3,
starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Jahnilli Akbar.
Jahnilli Akbar
Jahnilli Akbar is a 22-year-old poet and activist, born in Chicago and raised in northern Mississippi. Currently he splits his time between Harlem and Brooklyn, N.Y.

Akbar’s poetry is best defined as an artistic mesh of alternative black, Semitic and queer life in America.

Akbar won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award at the Wade-Lewis Invitational, the second largest colligate slam in the country with more than 100 participants, held at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Akbar is also the recipient of the 2011 Fresh Fruit Festival Queer Poet of the Year Award. He is a known face on the underground New York City art scene, as part of a movement called the Bushwick Renaissance, and as a member of Ground- Floor Collective, a leftist, African diaspora-based, predominately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer group of artists. The Ground-Floor Collective, the Brecht Forum & Malcolm X Grassroots Movement curates the annual Black August art show, a fundraiser for political prisoners abroad.

Many stages, venues and spaces have hosted Akbar’s poetry, including Nuyorican Poets’ Café, Bowery Poetry Club, Louder Arts, NYC Intangible Poetry Slam, SUNY New Paltz and the Brooklyn Museum, all in New York, the Seattle Poetry Slam, Chicago’s Mental Graffiti Slam and Wordplay Chicago.

In early November, Akbar published his first book, “Chronicles of a Contemporary Alternative American Negro,” and headed out on tour.

To compete in the slam, poets need at least three original poems, each three minutes long or shorter. No props, costumes or musical accompaniment are permitted. All types of poetry are welcome.

Photo by Harley Deuce
The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox
Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff
team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.
The Dec. 3 slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010.

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between Dec. 3 and Saturday, May 5. Future slams will take place on Saturdays, Jan. 7, Feb. 18, March 10, April 7 and May 5. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting and 1/2 point for calibrating. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1. Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C. All poets are eligible in the slamoff except those already confirmed members of or coaching another National Poetry Slam or Young Voices Be Heard team. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

What is 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.

Tickets are $7 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.

To slam:
Sign up at Studio Live by 7 p.m. or send a text message with your name to Graham at (928) 517-1400. Slots are first come, first serve.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

"How to Make an Issue of the 'Zine Beat Tiger"

The Art Of A Haus Show

How to Make an Issue of the 'zine Beat Tiger
Recipe:
1 set of weights
2 black jumpsuits
2 black masks
2 pair of black shoes
1 pair of wire cutter
1 large van
50 pounds of raw, uncooked meat
200 cc’s ketamine
1 stopwatch
1 tiger
1 copy of “Apocalypto”
1 ear to the ground1 used typewriter
I oversize coat
1 lawyer on retainer
1 pack of artists, raw and unpasteurized, large size

Step One:

begin lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
dress yourself and a partner in black jumpsuits
black masks, black shoes
find the local zoo or animal park
use the wire cutters on the external fence

find the tiger exhibit
choosing the right tiger is key:
Indochinese and Malayan tigers are endangered
    and the penalty for poaching
    is solitary confinement
Sumatran Tigers are on the verge of extinction
    and you face lifetime imprisonment
    in an Indonesian prison
    and you do not speak Indonesian
Siberian Tigers are too closely watched
    by gay magicians in Las Vegas

And Ligers,
    while humorous in “Napoleon Dynamite,”
    simply do not count
Bengal Tigers are most numerous
    and most easily acquired
now, insert ketamine into the raw meat
and throw it over the fence
wait 40 minutes
use the wire cutters on the fence
drive your van into the enclosure
lift the 500-pound animal into the van
it’s a good thing you started lifting all those weights

drive the tiger home
unload the animal into your garage
take photos for this month’s ’zine cover
release the tiger into the woods
don’t do so near a school
the tiger will be hungry when it wakes

Step Two
continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
Begin watching “Apocalypto
understand that Mel Gibson is racist
forgive him, no one’s perfect,
focus on the film’s hero
watch it over and over
until you name your band Jaguar Paw
Memorize the following:
“I am Jaguar Paw,
son of Flint Sky.
My Father hunted this forest before me.
My name is Jaguar Paw.
I am a hunter.
This is my forest.
And my sons will hunt it with their sons
after I am gone.”

Step Three:
continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
take your ear
put it to the ground
hear the word on the street
all rumors are true
all conspiracies worth losing yourself in
repeat them, loudly, vibrantly and in print
feel free to embellish
that’s how rumors grow too big to control
become a cog in that wheel
find what’s “fair and balanced” in you
and delete that shit
bias is the only way to live
because it is sincere and punk rock
you are punk rock
say it, “I am punk rock!”
louder, you pussies!
life means nothing without passion and obsession

Step Four:
continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
head to the nearest thrift store
walk past the jeans
you have enough
stop in the T-shirt section
only if you’re a hipster
and to one-up other hipsters
but understand you’re a pretentious fuck
head to appliances
find a typewriter
a Brother Electric Typewriter is choice
choose one with character
like a bent “K” or a missing “Shift” key
so all your pages will be lowercase
capitalization is elitist
and we are the 99%

Step Five:
continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
but on an oversize coat
find an office supply store
ask who owns the place
if the cashier says, “that guy”
you are in a local mom-and-pop
pay full price
if the cashier says, “stockholders” or “some CEO”
you are in a corporate chain
so fill your pockets like it’s the day before the zombie apocalypse
and only staples and Sharpies will keep you safe
pack paper reams under your coat
if you are discovered,
feign going into labor
no one suspects a pregnant woman
if you are male, declare it a miracle
remember to thank Jesus loudly
if quarterbacks can do it, so can you
you’re a fucking artist, damn-it
and Jesus loves you, too
hide scissors in your sleeves
if you have to fight your way out
no security guard will risk bleeding out
over 10 packs of Pilot G-2s
Remember to thank the store in your Page 2 shoutouts

Step Six:
Search for vintage magazines
rescue them from recyclers
schedule a doctor’s appointment
don’t worry about insurance
you won’t be there long
instead, use a fake Social Security number
while the receptionist is busy
trying to solve that problem
grab every magazine older than 1983
you make need to make two trips
it’s a good thing you started lifting all those weights

each title serves a purpose
vintage Life is classy
    and you must have class
Vanity Fair is both chic and trashy
    you are chic and trashy
    and at 400 pages,
    it also offers plenty of material
National Geographic may have tigers
    but it always pictures of topless women
    in Third World countries
The Week is choc full of current events
    and you must inform
    most of your readers get their news
    from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
Buy one vintage copy of Peanuts
Wite-Out speech bubbles
and make Snoopy as foul-mouthed as you are
rewrite Charlie Brown into a hipster
and Linus a badass pimp
Schroeder can bitch about Peter Zimmerman
while Lucy can mourn Drugs Bunny’s expulsion
from every Sedona band

Step Seven:
continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
find the fire within you
you’ll need a lighter and a pack of
American Spirit Lights
rollies are also acceptable
dirties are punk rock
and, as previously, determined
you are punk rock
liquid courage will keep your writing lugubrious
    know Big Flats is cheaper than PBR
    so you can get wasted on pocket change
    47 Pound Rooster won’t cause headaches
    so buy in bulk

Step Eight:
continue lifting weights
you will need the muscle later
then, light up your cigarettes
start pouring beer and wine for your contributors
it’s going to be a long weekend
pick music that is profound
choose Bob Dylan
the aforementioned Jaguar Paw
pick punk that pulls the passion from your pockets like paper magic tricks
have the rollies and dirties handy
use them to fight off writer’s block
take your shoplifted blank paper
    make sure it’s 100-percent recycled
    art should be good for the planet
set up the typewriter
treat it like an old lover
who hates you
or an ex-roommate
who still owes you money
beat the keys like a prison bitch
truth is in a prison
your ’zine is a prison break
you are the TNT
light the fuse and explode

use your stolen Sharpies
the five-finger discounted scissors
cut up the magazines
splice Jay-Z alongside Ben Bernanke
have them debate how the lights on Hwy. 89A
will make alien saucer landings easier*
Nico needs the inspiration and the validation
*this message was approved by the Illuminati
make a collage of your photocopied friends
and fashion models and ask:
    “who’s truly beautiful, motherfucker?”
place Lindsay Lohan next to Marilyn Monroe
    and whisper, “Lindsay, where did you go wrong?”
use the Pilot G-2s that hospitalized a security guard
and pen brilliant music reviews and short stories
warn youngsters about the perils of Bath Salts
and poetry and pen drawings
in all the white spaces
this isn’t an art magazine
you don’t get paid by the page
let loose all those rumors
spill everyone’s secrets
make them so outlandish
even the suspects doubt their guilt
you’re not a journalist
you’re a fictionalist with nonfiction characters
if you don’t have the dirt, make it up
then wait for the lawsuits to hit you
remember, you have that lawyer on retainer
list so many inside jokes
even you’re out of the loop

use the leftover dirties and hit the copy center
being blazed making photocopying a Zen experience
building a zine is Zen
even the spelling is close
remember to add the cover with the tiger picture
ignore the new stories about the bodies
apparently, it found that elementary school
well, you can’t make art without breaking a few eggs

Step Nine:
Carry your zine everywhere
they will be heavy
it’s a good thing you started lifting all those weights
Spread your zine like a pyromaniac spreads forest fires
light the city ablaze
shotgun your zine into the hands of artists
like a sperm donor
art needs a father / art needs a mother
and you are both
hold house parties to celebrate the brilliance
of the art you help create like children
have a poet write a poem like this
to recount the epic
build a scene on your back
for the rest of the city to share
the burden will be heavy
but friends will help carry the load
because they too, are punk rock
it’s a good thing we started lifting all those weights