Slam poetry event promises to be anything but typical
“Roses are red, violets are blue…” If that's what you think poetry is, then perhaps the shoutOut! With Pride is not for you.
Event organizer and host Stacie Boschma envisions the Saturday evening poetry slam to be more similar to battle rap, or a contest of lyricism.
“The shoutOut! With Pride is a poetry slam, which for the uninitiated is basically a way of turning poetry readings into mock combat,” says Boschma.
Boschma is a slam poet herself, having competed with the Atlanta based Art Amok Slam Team in 2006. Now she regularly hosts and emcees slam poetry events nationwide. Word got back to Atlanta Pride organizers about Boschma while they were putting together their own poetry event and she seemed an obvious choice as emcee.
“We've certainly had poets featured at Prides past, but this is new,” says Atlanta Pride Entertainment Co-chair Jamie Fergerson. “We've never done a dedicated poetry event before. Stacie is an experienced poet and volunteered to help out [with Pride]. She was the natural choice.”
The judges for the poetry slam will be selected at random from the audience, Boschma says. The contestants will perform original works of their own choosing. Boschma contends that scoring will be purely subjective with categories such as “Did that [poem] speak to me?” or “How cute was that poet?” The winner will take home a $100 cash prize.
Boschma hopes that this event will gain more support for poetry and specifically spoken word poets.
“The rewarding part is that there are always people who say 'I've never heard spoken word before and I loved that,' or, 'I don't usually like spoken word, but I loved that,'” she says.
Boschma wants people to let go of their pre-conceived notions of “poetry” when they attend her event.
“Slams are competitive, fast paced, and just happen to feature some of the most interesting and vibrant art you're likely to see. There's comedy, politics, and all sorts of personal exploration, so if a given piece or artist isn't really your thing, just wait five minutes,” she says.
Both Boschma and Atlanta Pride have high hopes for shoutOut! With Pride. This year will be a test run, but Boschma hopes that Atlanta Pride will become one of the marquee slam poetry events that happen yearly.
The Atlanta-metro currently hosts two Slam poetry teams, Art Amok and Java Monkey, both based in Decatur and both highly competitive on the national level, with Art Amok having a member place third overall in the individual competition in the 2007 National Poetry Slam.
Boschma boasts about Atlanta's fortune to have some of the nation's top spoken word talent.
“Atlanta really is a powerhouse city for spoken word and has an incredible reputation on the national stage,” she says.
— Rory Parker
Make that a rainbow flush
Pride goes all in this year with a new way to ante-up and support the festival.
Facing increased rental fees at the Atlanta Civic Center, the Atlanta Pride Committee decided its first poker tournament would be a good way to part card players and some of their money.
“My husband and I are really big poker players, and we thought a charity poker tournament would be a great addition to Pride,” says Darie Wolfson, Pride’s events coordinator. “I thought it was great fundraiser and might appeal to people who aren’t interested in going [to Pride] otherwise.”
A $30 tax-deductible donation buys a stake in the game and $1,000 in chips. Players who go out in the first hour can “buy back in” for a $20 donation and receive a new stack of $1,000 in chips.
Tournament-style poker will lead to eliminations until the final eight players are at one table. The top player in the final game wins a trip for two adults and two children to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico.
The World Poker Tour Amateur League sponsors and administers the event so that all of the proceeds go to Atlanta Pride. Early registration is preferred, but entrants can register onsite before the event.
— Matt Schafer
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
