2001 Worcester Slam season

This page contains information about a past slam season in Worcester. For current information please go here.

Worcester and Providence team members + groupies in Seattle 2001

Additional photos from the 2001 Nationals can be found under the Photos button to the left.

The 2001 Worcester Slam Team

On May 13th the Worcester Slam Team for 2001 was chosen after a night of intense poetic prowess. The folks representing Worcester at the National Poetry Slam this year are Tony Brown, Seren Divine, Gary Hoare, and Sou Macmillan.

There was a change in alternate for the Worcester team. Alixa Garcia made the Providence team (way to go Alixa!). Next up would have been Dave Mac however since the finals he took a new job that prevents him from attending. So Alex Charalambides became the alternate for Worcester 2001.

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Updates from the 2001 National Poetry Slam in Seattle.

Tuesday, 07/31

So it begins. The Worcester Slam team made it safely to their spacious penthouse digs at the Seattle Inn. So it wasn't the Taj Mahal. They managed to get (almost) enough beds for everyone. They can even see the Space Needle from their balcony. Sou says she's going to perform her morning yoga there.

Today's a fairly quiet day - quiet if you consider 100s of poets milling around a normally placid hotel. Gary, Melissa and I spent the better part of the day lamenating badges for poets, volunteers and the like. Met some nice folks, caught up with others from Providence last year.

Tonight the The James Whiton Combo performed at the Sit-n-Spin. The Sit-n-Spin is something every city needs - a bar in a laundrymat (or is it the other way around). The folks from Worcester managed to catch dinner together at a Thai place a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Good food and relaxation made for a great way to kick off a week in Seattle.

Tomorrow the fun begins - opening ceremonies at 3 and Worcester's first competition will be at 10:00 p.m. They'll go up against teams from Portland (Oregon), St. Louis, and San Jose.

Wednesday, 08/01

What a day Wednesday was. It all started off at midnight (08/01 12:00 a.m.) with the beginning of an attempt to hold the world's longest poetry reading. April Ardito and an army of poets will attempt to hold a continuous open mic that will run until Saturday (8/4) at 6:00 p.m. It's held at this great little hole in the wall called the Hurricane Cafe. Poets get food for 1/2 price all week. It kicks much ass.

Opening Ceremonies were a hoot. Each team had 1 minute to introduce themselves and the intros ran from the sublime to the down right raunchy. As always poets have little in the way of timekeeping skills so a number of the intros went over time. It was still fun.

First bout of the evening began at 8:00 p.m. Our friends at the Cantab competed against Berkeley, Memphis-Hot Springs, and Kalamazoo while the team from Providence went up against San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta-MoorEpics. The Cantab team came in 2nd in their bout while Providence finished 3rd.

Worcester's first chance at glory came in the second bout of the night. They crossed pathes with teams from Portland (Oregon), St. Louis, and San Jose. In the end there can be only one. Worcester came in second. We also met an individual competitor from Springfield, MA named Jamie "Shaggy" Flores - he got the high score of the night in the bout - a 28.8.

Two after hours events kick off at midnight. The Cover Slam and the Erotic Poetry Showcase give the competitors the chance to kick back, relax, catch up with friends and make new ones. And don't forget the world record reading attempt - it's still going.

Thursday, 08/02/2001

Today there were workshops, meetings and showcase performances to occupy the hours from 10 a.m. until the day's first bout at 8:00 p.m. You can check out the schedule yourself at http://www.nationalpoetryslam.com/NPS_sched.shtml. More stuff to do than you can shake a feather quill at.

The second round of bouts kicked off at 8:00 p.m. with Worcester's finest going up against teams from Atlanta-Slam City!, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. The 3 teams Worcester faced all won their first bout the night before so it was an uphill battle. I wish I could report that the home team pulled it off however despite their best efforts it didn't work out.

Also at 8:00 p.m. the Cantab and Providence teams met in competition along with the teams from Albuquerque and Grand Rapids. Couldn't see this bout since I was cheering on my fellow inmates from the Asylum. In talking with Jared later in the evening I learned that Providence won the bout with the Cantab team coming in 3rd.

Tonight's after hours events included the Hip Hop Showcase and, lord help us all, Karaoke. Of course the karaoke machine didn't show up but that didn't stop the resourceful poets. They jammed on with benefit of machinery. I sucked down a Guiness (or 2 or was it 3), chilled with some folks and headed home.

The Nationals are half way over folks. Tomorrow night is the semi-finals. Don't know who will be in them yet but as soon as I know you'll know.

Come on back tomorrow for more news from 3 timezones to the right. Now I need sleep.

Friday, 08/03

Once again there were more workshops, meetings and showcase performances to occupy the hours from 10 a.m. until the day's first bout at 8:00 p.m. Check out the schedule for yourself at http://www.nationalpoetryslam.com/NPS_sched.shtml.

Tony Brown and I attended the Transmissions reading (poetry and spoken word on HIV and AIDS) was spectacular. Ms. Spelt and Marcus Van hosted a crowd that started around 30 and grew to at least 50 by the end. Some wonderful poetry was offered up touching the heart, breaking the soul and providing the occassional laugh. We also raised over $150 through a passed hat for a local AIDS organization.

The Queer Showcase brought 26 readers to the stage in 90 minutes. Hosting duties were shared by Tara Hardy and Reggie Cabico. I'd guess at least a hundred people crowded into the New Orleans Creole Restaurant, sitting on the floor, in each others laps, etc. It was the first time to the Queer Showcase stage for many of the readers. Some excellent work. At the end of the alloted time there were still names on the list who wanted to read. There's always the 24 hour stage - still going at ~73 hours and counting.

The top 16 teams from the 2 prelim rounds advanced to the semi-finals Friday night. The next 6 teams were paired up for exhibition slams. Among those Providence and Albuquerque faced off. Albuquerque came out on top. :-( The cats from Providence are all in good spirits however. Be sure to ask Alixa about the exciting time she had.

I managed to catch the end of the semi bout between Berkeley, Boston - Lizard Lounge, NYC - Urbana and the Washington, DC team. Quasi from the Lizard Lounge read a wonderful piece and the last line stuck in my head for hours - something like You want a picture of poetry look to Graceland. He scored a 29.5 for his efforts. Beau Sia (Urbana) scored the only 30 I saw of the bout. In the NYC - Urbana advanced to the finals. Word on the street is that teams from Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle will also be on the finals stage Saturday night.

I stuck around for the Individual (Indie) semi-final bout since a couple of folks I've chatted with this week were in the running. Here are the unofficial results (though they do match was was anounced from the stage).

Beau Sia, Urbana             29.8 + 29.7 == 59.5
Shawn V., Seattle            29.0 + 29.4 == 58.4
Mayda del Valle, Nuyorican   28.8 + 29.5 == 58.3
Mama Blue, St. Louis         29.0 + 29.1 == 58.1
Angela Boyce, Sacramento     28.6 + 29.2 == 57.8
Morris Stegosaurus, Seattle  28.2 + 29.6 == 57.8
Bao Phi, Minneapolis         27.4 + 29.4 == 56.8 (includes a -1.0 time penalty)
Todd Davis, Prescott, AZ     26.9 + 29.2 == 56.1
Jim Dwyer, Dayton            26.5 + 29.6 == 56.1 (includes a -1.0 time penalty)
Matt Olzman, Detroit         26.9 + 28.9 == 55.8

I can't remember if the top 4 or 6 indies go to the finals Saturday night. Either way it's going to be a hot competition.

One more day (think of the majestic chorus from Les Miserables) of the Nationals.

Remember this mantra: sleep is for the weak. Until tomorrow.

Saturday, 08/04

Friday dawned bright and sunny. OK, that's a complete fabrication but it sounds good and that's what I've spent all week listening to, good sounding words. Today brought more showcases and workshops. My favorite was the head-to-head haiku match. Can you imagine carrying 40 haiku around in your head or making them up on the fly? We've seen Java Bill and Aaron Yamaguchi go at it. Well this was even more intense.

Worcester performed two pieces in the Group Piece showcase. Sou and Seren performed Girlfriend and Sou and Becky performed what Sou described as an interesting version of Kinsey Street.

Finals were the place to be tonight it seemed. The place was packed with not just the ~500 poets + volunteers who came to the nationals but also hundreds of other folks who came on down to listen to sweet words and tasty rhythms. The Paramount Theatre is a beautiful old place that has been marvelously redone. Sound was flawless and so was the poetry. Amazing stuff man. If you ever get within 100 miles of finals night at the Nationals you must go - it's a moral imperative.

There were the usual thank yous followed by a showcase of I think 5 p pieces by various poets or teams. The one that sticks in my mind was by the team from Vancouver - a 4 person group piece that mixed a bit of song, strong words and a human beat box. The notes that Cass King was hitting were amazing.

Indy finals were next. There were 6 competitors Angela Boyce, Mama Blue, Mayda del Valle, Beau Sia, Morris Stegasaurus, and Shawn V. After two rounds the winner was Mayda del Valle from the Nuyerican Cafe in New York City. She walked away with a cookie since the trophy was taking apart by customs when Shane brought it from Vancouver, BC to Seattle.

Before the team finals got underway the Spirit of the Slam award was presented. Conceived of by Sean Shea it is presented to the person who best represented, well, the spirit of Slam. For her efforts in organizing and keeping the 90 hour open mic running April Arditio took home the first-ever award.

The team finals were fast paced. Hosted by Allison Durazzi teams from Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and NYC-Urbana met on the stage. When the dust had settled the team from Dallas, TX walked away with the trophy.

Time to sleep. Most of the team flies home Sunday morning. Don't expect to see them at the Java Hut though. They don't get in until late evening and they are wiped out, emotionally and physically. I fly home Sunday. Might make a final thoughts update tonight if I don't sleep the day away. Peace!

Sunday, 08/05

It's over, done, finished. Gracie has said good night. Elvis has left the building.

There was a cookout at Magnolia Park today to wrap things up until this whole thing picks up again in Minneapolis next year. 6 hours with nothing to do but bask in the goodness of poetic fellowship. The competition of the week is over - now it's just for art's sake.

Worcester made it to their flights ontime. They should be home by now. I'm meeting local friends for dinner. As much as I love my poet friends it'll be nice to talk about something other than scores, judges or time penalties.

I am tired, so very tired. Tired to the point that my fingers feel like there are lead weights attached to them. Tired like my brain has been dipped in liquid nitrogen and will shatter if I have a single lucid thought. Tired like I just had the most amazing conversation with the most amazing person and I just want it to go on... for... ever...

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The Worcester team will be participating in regional slams and presenting team features between now and the Nationals. This is an opportunity for all involved to hone their slam skills, to see what works, and to scope out some of the competition. :-)

Regional Slams

So far the following regionals have been scheduled:

Team Features

It's always nice to have fan at an out of town venue so if you have the time please support the Worcester team.

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Fundraising

The annual Asylum Auction raised $563 to help send the Slam team to Seattle. We have also received a $250 donation for the Worcester County Poetry Asssociation.

We are still far short of the fundraising goal of $6000. Guess who will make up the short fall - the team members. They'll use their personal savings, their credit cards, they'll beg money from parents, friends, lovers. They'll put themselves into debt for the next year in order to represent Worcester at the National Poetry Slam competition.

Why is it going to cost so much you ask? Here's a breakdown of the major expenses...

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National Poetry Slam

This year the nationals will be held in Seattle, WA from July 31 through August 5th. You can find more info on the event, venues, etc. by visiting their website at http://www.nationalpoetryslam.com

The 2002 Nationals will be held in Minneapolis, MN. More info as it becomes available.

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Last Update: 09/10/2001