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April is National Poetry Month. We are so fortunate to have talented local poets as well as residents who appreciate poetry. We also have a variety of ways to recognize and celebrate it, and I hope to see you at some of the activities. I will be alerting you to them all month. Start by marking your calendar! Sierra Nevada College has scheduled three significant events to celebrate National Poetry Month, honoring this traditional, yet ever-evolving art form, and the community is invited to attend at no charge.
The college will kick off its celebration with a poetry reading by Lola Haskins from 7Š9 p.m. Thursday, in the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, room 139/141 on the SNC campus. Haskins, who teaches poetry in Pacific Lutheran University's M.F.A. program, saw two works published in 2007: "Not Feathers Yet: A Beginner's Guide to the Poetic Life" (Backwaters Press), an advice book for those interested in poetry, and "Solutions Beginning with A" (Modernbook), a collection of original fables about women, with images by Maggie Taylor. In addition to poetry, she has published in the field of environmental writing and recently completed "Wind, the Grass, and Us", a collection of personal essays beginning in Florida's state parks, and is working on a book spotlighting Florida's many interesting cemeteries. Other projects include a new collection of poems and a play based on one of her books of poetry.
Next week local poets will stand and deliver for a chance to take home the title of "Tahoe Slam Poet of the Year" from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at the Sierra Nevada College Poetry Slam in the college's Patterson Hall. Note: Competitors will be limited to the first 10 people to sign up (a change from last year's Slam), so hopeful contestants should plan on arriving a minimum of 20 minutes before the event to sign up for a chance to compete. Judges will be chosen at random from the audience, and audience members are encouraged to participate (Note: Booing or cheering the judges is acceptable; heckling the poets is not).
The college will kick off its celebration with a poetry reading by Lola Haskins from 7Š9 p.m. Thursday, in the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, room 139/141 on the SNC campus. Haskins, who teaches poetry in Pacific Lutheran University's M.F.A. program, saw two works published in 2007: "Not Feathers Yet: A Beginner's Guide to the Poetic Life" (Backwaters Press), an advice book for those interested in poetry, and "Solutions Beginning with A" (Modernbook), a collection of original fables about women, with images by Maggie Taylor. In addition to poetry, she has published in the field of environmental writing and recently completed "Wind, the Grass, and Us", a collection of personal essays beginning in Florida's state parks, and is working on a book spotlighting Florida's many interesting cemeteries. Other projects include a new collection of poems and a play based on one of her books of poetry.
Next week local poets will stand and deliver for a chance to take home the title of "Tahoe Slam Poet of the Year" from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at the Sierra Nevada College Poetry Slam in the college's Patterson Hall. Note: Competitors will be limited to the first 10 people to sign up (a change from last year's Slam), so hopeful contestants should plan on arriving a minimum of 20 minutes before the event to sign up for a chance to compete. Judges will be chosen at random from the audience, and audience members are encouraged to participate (Note: Booing or cheering the judges is acceptable; heckling the poets is not).
Poets will be limited to a maximum of three minutes for their first utterance (just the poem, please; no long preambles!) First-, second-, and third-place winners will receive cash prizes. For more information on the Poetry Slam, please contact English professor June Saraceno at jsaraceno@sierranevada.edu. For a discussion of Slam poetry, let me highly recommend "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Slam Poetry" by Marc Kelly Smith and Joe Kraynak, both to budding Slam poets as well as any one interested in attending and/or knowing more about a Poetry Slam. Marc Smith actually invented Slam poetry in 1984 and has now taken the time to explain the concept and give really helpful pointers. As he stresses "Slam poetry attempts to invigorate poetry by giving equal weight and integrity to the poetry and the performance." No matter who wins the top prize, the poet/performers, the organizers and the audience all walk away winners. As you will discover, Slam Poetry equally involves the audience as well as the poet.
"The points are not the point ... the point is poetry" is an adage coined by a slam poet and organizer, Allen Wolfe. The true goal is to inspire people from all walks of life to listen to their own original works, appreciate and respect the power, and ultimately to take the stage to perform their own original works. Poets become servants to the audience, and the role of the audience is to listen carefully and provide the feedback (i.e. boo, hiss, stamp your feet, but no heckling) that the poets needs in order to sharpen his or her skills as poet and performer.
Rules vary from slam to slam but there are four general rules to follow unless told otherwise:
• Perform your own work.
"The points are not the point ... the point is poetry" is an adage coined by a slam poet and organizer, Allen Wolfe. The true goal is to inspire people from all walks of life to listen to their own original works, appreciate and respect the power, and ultimately to take the stage to perform their own original works. Poets become servants to the audience, and the role of the audience is to listen carefully and provide the feedback (i.e. boo, hiss, stamp your feet, but no heckling) that the poets needs in order to sharpen his or her skills as poet and performer.
Rules vary from slam to slam but there are four general rules to follow unless told otherwise:
• Perform your own work.
• Perform in three minutes or less.
• No props or costumes.
• Score range from 0 to 10 or down to minus infinity.
• No props or costumes.
• Score range from 0 to 10 or down to minus infinity.
Also, to remain true to Slam, follow the rules that define it: Open it to anyone, allow all styles of poetry and give the audience control. Use concrete language to paint vivid images on your audience's brain and dynamic verbs to re-create movements and gestures in your poetry. Achieve rhythm through word choice, syntax, various sonic devices and intelligent use of rhyme. Be genuine. Speak from experience.
This book is laid out in a very organized, unintimidating manner and takes the reader from a rank novice to really understanding the process and outcome of Poetry Slams. It gives technique, defines terms, explains Slam Slang, gives you the "Backstage Skinny" and comes with two CD disks, which are carefully coordinated in the text and supplement the written explanation. If you love Slam Poetry, this could become your "bible" for the art! And then from 8-10 p.m. the following Tuesday, April 15, Ken Waldman will be fiddling around, as well as reading his poetry in the college's Patterson Hall. I will tell you more about him next week.
This book is laid out in a very organized, unintimidating manner and takes the reader from a rank novice to really understanding the process and outcome of Poetry Slams. It gives technique, defines terms, explains Slam Slang, gives you the "Backstage Skinny" and comes with two CD disks, which are carefully coordinated in the text and supplement the written explanation. If you love Slam Poetry, this could become your "bible" for the art! And then from 8-10 p.m. the following Tuesday, April 15, Ken Waldman will be fiddling around, as well as reading his poetry in the college's Patterson Hall. I will tell you more about him next week.
