Gabrielle Bouliane, a stalwart of the Slam Poetry community, passed away on January 29th, 2010. She spearheaded the founding of the video program of Poetry Slam Inc. and is the founder of LivePoets.com, a collection of freely streamed slam poetry work. First and foremost she was a poet with a powerful voice. Her work was intensely personal as she shared the first person perspective of dating, sex and beyond. Many attendees of the National Poetry Slam get their first glimpse of Gabrielle as the perennial host of the National Erotica Slam showcase.

She believes in the slam as a flawed but uniquely American art form, and she believes in poetry as a way to get people deeply connected to themselves and each other. Her brilliance and vivaciousness will be missed.

You can read & listen to several of her poems at livepoets.com. Or view the YouTube video of a piece she performed at the Austin Poetry Slam in December 2009. Just click on the embedded YouTube video on the right.