As a result of the abridged semi-finals last month, this month lacks a feature. You know what that means, more time for you to read! There will be a regular slam, and maybe Steve will have something special cooked up for us. See you Tuesday Night!

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I slacked off and forgot to do this update last week because I am lazy! Tomorrow night is the semi-finals! I also like to use exclamation points a lot!!!

From Steve:

Just a reminder that tonight we have the semi-finals for team selection to attend the National Poetry Slam 2006 in Austin TX, where you will be subjected to 105 degree temperatures in the middle of pouring rain, largely at your own expense. If this sounds like fun to you, come on down to the Ann Arbor Poetry Slam tonight. It will be one of the best shows of the year.

We have a special surprise, fresh off his recent 24 hour marathon feature, Scott Woods will be the MC tonight. We might even coax a poem or two out of him.

All poets who have won or finished second in an Ann Arbor Poetry Slam since May of last year are eligible to compete tonight. We will narrow the field to the top six for the finals next month.

Remember doors open 7 PM. Show starts 7:30 with an open mic. And, because the DJ gave up the ghost we are permitted to say…In Ann Arbor we will leave no poem unread…

Come prepared to see the best performance poetry available in the city. You won’t be disappointed.

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The Ann Arbor Poetry Slam is committed to continuing the tradition of bringing Slam Champions to our fair city. The March 7th Slam will be no exception. We are proud to present Buddy Wakefield.

His bio courtesy of his website:

BUDDY WAKEFIELD is the 2005 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion. He is also the 2004 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear.

Born in Shreveport, LA, mostly raised in Baytown, TX, now claiming Seattle, WA as home, Wakefield has been a busker in Amsterdam, a lumberjack in Norway, a street vendor in Spain, a team leader in Singapore, a re-delivery boy, a candy maker, a street sweeper, a bartender, a maid, a construction worker, manager of a CD store, a bull rider and a booking agent.

In the spring of 2001 Buddy left his position as the executive assistant at a biomedical firm in Gig Harbor, WA, sold or gave away all he owned and moved into the small, mobile town of Honda Civic to tour every major poetry venue in America and Canada through August of 2003. He is currently landed in Seattle as the manager and founder of The Bullhorn Collective (an agency made up of 30 of the highest ranking Slam Poets and most accomplished performance poets in the world).

Buddy successfully defended his World Championship title at the 2004 International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands against the national champs from seven European countries, and has been featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, CBC, NPR and the BBC. Wakefield is also the 2003 Seattle Poetry Grand Slam Champion, the proud brother of Princess Sandy Beasley, and was voted Favorite Poet at the 2002 Midwest Poet’s Choice Awards as well as Best Featured Slam Poet 2001-`03, Arizona. His work has been used to win national collegiate forensics competitions and is published internationally. Buddy, a Board of Directors member with Youth Speaks Seattle, is known for delivering raw, rounded, high vibration performances of humor and heart while shifting social paradigms and assaulting cross-cultural barriers through powerful accounts of release.

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Thanks to Tiny Dancer (the poet formerly known as LOGIC), the Ann Arbor Poetry Slam will have a feature for February ! Is the dancer trying to get my job ? Who knows! I do know I appreciate our featured poet coming on such short notice. She comes highly recommended.

Tiya Kunaiyi

was born to a Mexican-American mother and Nigerian father, so from birth, she was in a world made of worlds. She was raised in Rivers State, Nigeria and spent her childhood exposed to the largely diverse culture that existed in the oil-rich state. It is that unique state of cultural complexity that has shaped the multi-ethnic voice of her work. Tiya has released two chap books and recently completed her first book, “Complicated Simplicity”, which will be released soon.

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Dear Ann Arbor Poetry Slam Fan,

I don’t know about you, but I look forward to the bad poetry slam allyear.

Here’s the way the night works.

1. Open mic. We are looking for your GOOD poetry in the open mic. Please. There will be enough groaners later on.

2. After a little break, Larry Francis, the traditional host of bad poetry night, will get us started with the traditional offering of the evil muses who bring us the schlock-verse.

3. The contest will progress poet-by-poet. Judges will award scores but on this night only, the lowest score wins.

One poem per contestant. May the worst poet win!

And what do they win, you might ask. I’ll tell you: $50 American (and that’s a whole lot more than we pay the winner of a “good poetry”slam!) a T-shirt proclaiming the wearer to be TWPIAA (The Worst Poet in Ann Arbor) and the heady adrenaline rush that accompanies victory.So write something stinky, or dig through that old journal you kept in high school, or show us that old love letter you wrote but didn’t send. The rules are simple: it must be original work, it must bereasonably short (we reserve the right to gong you and gently remove you from the stage), it may be racy, suggestive, naughty or indiscreet…but please don’t be vicious, disgustingly crude or engage in hate speech. Those are conditions that take the fun out of the night.

Remember, we’ll be video taping, and this might be your shot at immortality! If you want a sampler from last year, the video is for sale at www.thewordsmithpress.com for not too much money.

But, for the live show, come early, this is one of our most popular nights and seating is limited. See you there.

Now, what rhymes with “nasal polyp?”
Steve D. Marsh

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