PG Slam, at the National Poetry Slam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PG Slam: a PG Poetry Competition Judged by Teens
Noon, Saturday, August 8, 2009
West Palm Beach Library Auditorium, 411 Clematis St.

The 2009 National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, FL is proud to present this educational tool and family event featuring:

Simone Beaubien: Renowned poet, host and SlamMaster of the Boston Poetry Slam at Cantab Lounge. Coach of the Boston Poetry Slam team, finalists in 2008!

Blair: HBO Def Poetry Jam Website Featured Performer and National Poetry Slam Champion-Team Detroit.

Taylor Mali: 4-time National Poetry Slam Champion, 3-time HBO Def Poet, teacher and teacher recruiter!

Sonya Renee: National Poetry Slam Champion, International Poetry Slam Championship runner-up, Four Continents European National Slam Champion, and HBO Def Poet.

Lizz Straight: host of “Poetry Is” on 88.5 WMNF radio in Tampa and streaming online, Southern Fried Poetry Slam Champion, and Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival Champion.

Scott Woods: President of Poetry Slam, Inc. Host and SlamMaster of Writer’s Block Poetry Night, Columbus, OH, and the first poet to ever successfully accomplish a 24 hour solo poetry reading!

Zork: National Poetry Slam poet, ZorkSlams youth poetry spotlight series creator, SlamMaster for Wetschester County, NY., and author of Stolen Snapshots


Vibrant slam veteran and forensics teacher Deb Marsh hosts this all ages event that celebrates poetry as an inspiration and transformative influence for kids, and provides teachers an opportunity to incorporate performance poetry and poetry slam in their traditional reading and writing curriculum. The invitational competition will be held on the final day of the National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, FL, and feature the voices of some of the most inspiring poets of the new millennium.

The PG Slam competition is a traditional one or two round slam for 7 internationally- recognized poets. Each poet will come prepared with two original pieces, appropriate for middle or high school (either as is or self-edited for the purpose). Kids age 10 to 15 will be chosen from the audience to judge the slam.

The PG Slam Competition is the second project in a series of age-appropriate events and DVDs featuring the work of slam legends and rising stars who have exceptional appeal and powerful messages for children in high school and junior high. This year’s event, part of the 2009 National Poetry Slam in downtown West Palm Beach, is organized by Laura Vookles/LV--mother, assistant slam master of the White Plains slam and a two-time competitor in national events; Casandra Tanenbaum, high school teacher, dynamic south Florida poet and poetry organizer, and Eric ZORK Alan, a multiple times National Slam competitor & White Plains Slam Master.

We believe that all participants and spectators will understand that the underlying premise of the PG Slam is not about censorship but about wanting to bring slam poetry to more young people and realizing that there is a “time and place” component to performing art for children. This lively event will be well attended and enjoyed by fans of all ages.

“Slam Poetry” and Performance poetry techniques for writing and performance encourage students to step outside their shells, learn to respect both the literary and dramatic value of the written and spoken word and then to use this knowledge to start to express themselves both on the page and the stage. The tools used with slam poetry do far more than just help students pen and then perform original poetry, the skill sets of self examination, self expression, crafting prose and then learning to properly present those ideas will help a student throughout their primary and secondary education, and later in their careers as adults!

For more information, contact: Casandra Tanenbaum (561-704-0054, hypertextual@yahoo.com), “LV” Laura Vookles (914-500-8558, llv1mini@mac.com) and visit www.nps2009.com

NPS 2009 in WPB!!! AUGUST 4-8!

This is an all call.

The largest spoken word event in the world is landing on Clematis Street in August. PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD!

For those of you who know how important poetry slam is to me, but have never been to one: this is the BIGGEST, BADDEST, BEST, BOMBASTIC, BRILLIANT slam to ever visit our little region! WHAT A KILLER TIME TO CHECK ONE OUT! Preliminary competition begins Tuesday night August 4 and continues Wednesday and Thursday. AND THERE ARE EARLY BOUTS- you can enjoy the event AND get to bed at a reasonable hour (unlike the slam at Dada!). Teams from as far away as Hawaii and France will be lighting the street on fire with hot lyrics, battling for a spot on the finals stage.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE EVENTS and VENUES, visit: www.nationalpoetryslam.com or www.nps2009.com

This is the 20th anniversary of the National Poetry Slam. It will be amazing. You will want to have been there.

TRUST ME ON THIS.

IF you want to help promote, particularly in the far flung regions of our county (south county, Wellington, Belle Glade, north county) PLEASE CONTACT ME. I can get you all the fliers and posters you can possible handle, and I'd love to get you involved.

IF you want to volunteer during the event, use the volunteer link at www.nps2009.com... the form will come to me, and I'll send you a form letter back so we can get critical information for placing you at a volunteer post. EVEN IF YOU CAN ONLY VOLUNTEER ONE NIGHT, it's worth it (and you'll get in to that night's event for free!)

Finals night is at the West Palm Beach Convention Center.
There are late night and day events (specialty readings, vendors, etc) as well- these are ALWAYS super fun.

TEACHERS: The National Poetry Slam is putting together a special presentation just for you! Want to bring poetry slam into your classroom? Learn from the pros! The 'PG' Slam on Saturday at the West Palm Beach library is designed to give you a workable tool kit for integrating this innovative literary and performance work in your curriculum! OH, and its a FREE event!

LOVE, and MORE POETRY PLEASE!

Masters of Contemplative Education summer intensive @ Naropa

This may be the only time I feel really comfortable about describing my experience here during my first of 2 summer retreats at Naropa's Masters of Contemplative Education program. I am IN it (we still have more than one week left) and today is a Day of Contemplation... one way I enjoy contemplation is through writing (duh) so, here it is.

I chose this program for its emphasis on integrating mindfulness in the lives of teachers. I was looking at a number of different graduate programs (teaching social justice in Pittsburgh, Ed Leadership, Curriculum, Interdisciplinary, etc) but I was really drawn, intuitively, to apply to this program. I came to visit the campus in February, and felt really drawn to the energy of the community. After the interview, I felt a total sense of trust in the department, and that is something I've never experienced in a university setting. EVER.

So, I arrived and met my roommates, Elizabeth and 'domestic' Amy (we have two Amys in our cohort: one is domestic, one is imported) and then tried to meet everyone else. The first few days is meet and greet, easing into the routine of regular sitting meditation practice, and thesis presentations. After that, the 'third years' graduated and our real work began.

There are three classes we take, every day: Presence in Teaching, Contemplative Teacher, and Community Practice Seminar. We also have 45 minutes of meditation in the morning and 45 in the evening. We share lunches, tea time, and dinner. Our day begins with morning meditation (which was just shifted from 7:45 am to 8:00 am) and then classes. CPS ends our day (used to end at 8:30, now ends at 8:00pm... 12 hour day, yay!).

An excerpt from one of my reflection papers:
"Walking into Presence class each day is a bit of a task. I consult the syllabus, only to discover it is “only for visioning purposes” and “should not be considered a reliable reference (Worley, 2009).” Still, I settle into the ‘recommended’ reading, imagine that something from it will ease me into the unknown that awaits, and then cross the threshold returning to Shambhala hall. The class assembles, and then we discover our awareness of the vastness of universal space; we throw our weight around, and zombie walk through sensation and location. So much disruption, every day, can be stupefying. Presence class delivers a direct embodiment of contemplation: our own experiential guarantee that understanding occurs in the physical, sensitive, livable, lovable world, experienced by a physical, sensitive, livable, lovable body, in community with other such bodies. This is quite far from my “intellectual” expectations of the limits of contemplative practice!"

We have been encouraged to stretch ourselves here more completely than in any other context I've every experienced. IT IS AMAZING.

And, it transforms into a distance learning program when we leave on June 18.

All right, I must be off. This day is MY day, and I've got to do some living in it before it's gone!