All-Arizona Slam returns to Maricopa, changes location

[quote_box_right]IF YOU GO
What: All-Arizona Poetry Slam
When: Feb. 2, 5:45-9:30 p.m.
Where: Maricopa City Hall, 39700 W. Civic Center Plaza
How much: $10
Info: Facebook.com/events/1588942727874228[/quote_box_right]Maricopa will host its own championship contest on Saturday of Super Bowl weekend when Maricopa Arts Council and Maricopa City Council present the 2019 All-Arizona Poetry Slam Championship. Because of overwhelming response, the setting had to be changed from Honeycutt Coffee to the larger space at City Hall.

Poets from all over the state will join the top two prize-winning Maricopa poets in the three-round elimination contest – a 14-person “duel” in the art of performance of original poetry.

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 the audience, and every performance is rated by each judge Olympics-style. At the close of both rounds 1 and 2, the competitors will successively be cut down in numbers until only five poets compete in the final round.

MAC is offering the top three money prizes, with the top prize set at $400.

The full list of 14 starting poets in the first round were selected from a two-month-long lottery run by MAC’s slam master, nationally known poet and shark enthusiast Bernard Schober, who performs as The Klute. He has led all MAC’s poetry slam events since Maricopa Arts Council introduced this type of event to the city in 2016.

The 14 All-Arizona Championship competitors include representatives of the Phoenix Slam, Sedona Slam and Flagstaff Slam, and the top two poets from MAC’s Maricopa Poetry Slam, Jasper Smith and Tristan Marshell. An additional four poets on the Wait List will be listed at the event Facebook site.

The slam is preceded by “art on the spot.” Paintings by Maricopa’s talented visual artists Kristal Hoeh and Lilly Hernandez Schuette will be created before your eyes in the lobby of City Hall from 5-6:30 p.m. These works will be added to the prize checks.

A $10 entrance fee will be charged at the door. Outdoor food trucks offer main meals for purchase, from 5:45-6:30, and Honeycutt Coffee will have dessert food service for purchase in the lobby. MAC personnel onsite will be aided by hospitality guides from Maricopa High School DECA.