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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Maricopans to compete at All-Arizona Slam on Saturday

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Alex Hurley (right), the winner of the All-Maricopa Slam, and runner-up Laura Olivieri will compete in the All-Arizona Slam in Maricopa Jan. 13. Photos by Mason Callejas

By Maricopa Arts Council[quote_box_right] IF YOU GO
What: All-Arizona Poetry Slam Championship
When: Jan. 13, 7-10 p.m.
Where: Honeycutt Coffee, 44400 W. Honeycutt Road, Suite 109
How much: $5 at the door
Info: Facebook.com/events/333528660452933[/quote_box_right]

A vigorous artistic contest will take place Jan. 13 at the Maricopa Arts Council’s All-Arizona Poetry Slam Championship.

Slam Poetry offers works revealing the innermost thoughts and feelings of the poets. The 14 competitors include representatives of the Phoenix Slam, Sedona Slam and Flagstaff Slam, and the top two poets from MAC’s All-Maricopa Poetry Slam, Alex Hurley and Laura Olivieri.

National Slam rules will prevail: Each poem must be the poet’s own creation and should be no longer than three minutes. Judges are chosen from those present in the audience, and every performance is rated by each judge Olympics-style. At the close of each round, the competitors will successively be cut down in numbers until only five poets compete in the final round.

MAC is offering the top three cash prizes with $400 earmarked for the winner.

The 14 starting poets in the first round were selected online Dec. 11 from a month-long lottery run by MAC’s Slam Master, nationally-known poet and shark enthusiast Bernard Schober, who performs as The Klute. A poetry expert who has written 10 books and performed at the National Slam 10 times, The Klute has supervised and led all MAC’s poetry slam events since Maricopa ARTS Council introduced this type of Arts event to the city in August 2016.

The Slam Championship event will be preceded by a different type of artistic “prelude,” also a tradition introduced to Maricopa last year by MAC: “On-the-Spot” drawings on Honeycutt Coffee’s chalk-board and window will be created 5:30-7 p.m. by several Maricopa artists specially selected for this event.

Competitors:

1. Alex Hurley (1st Place – All Maricopa Slam)
2. Laura Ochs Olivieri (2nd Place – All Maricopa Slam)
3. Stacy Eden (Phoenix Poetry Slam Representative)
4. Lydia Gates (Flagstaff Poetry Slam Representative
5. TBD (Sedona Poetry Slam Representative)
6. Shawnte Orion
7. Sydney Rowe
8. Alexander Bentley
9. Lauren Perry
10. Aaron Hopkins-Johnson
11. Gabriela Castillo-Londono
12. Wil Williams
13. Al Fournier
14. M C Tristan Marshell
Wait list:
1. Briana Grace Hammerstrom
2. Chris Crockett
3. Joshua Wiss
4. Megan Condeno Atencia

This item appears in the January issue of InMaricopa.