Tag Archives: slam

EVENT
Born to Heal: The First Preliminary Poetry Slam ft. Mike Rosen

From WeSLAM:bth

you either saw or didn’t see our semester kick-off showcase and open mic, but either way you absolutely should see our first scored slam of the semester!

come see student poets perform for a spot in our grand slam (in november) and spit the realest fire you’ll hear in all of nescac, with a feature performance by WeSlam founder, Mike Rosen (’11).

weslam believes in poetry’s power to heal, change, and transform the world into a more compassionate and honest place. we hope you will join us in this mission this coming friday, as poet or audience member. either way, your company is essential and necessary.

sign-ups open at 2PM day-of (Saturday, Sept. 24) and are limited to only 10 slots, so email weslam.wesleyan@gmail.com right at 2 to sign up! if you have any questions/anxieties/concerns/speculations you can direct them there as well, or to Giorgia Sage, Lexi Slater, or Hazem Fahmy. poems do not need to be memorized, only written by you. they do not have to be slam poems and you do not have to have ever performed before!

about our feature:
Mike Rosen is a poet, performer, and educator. Best known for the viral video “When God Happens” (UpWorthy.com), Mike was named Best Male Poet at the Wade-Lewis Poetry Slam Invitational 2011, was a finalist at Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam 2012, and has twice finished in the top ten at College Union Poetry Slam Invitational. As a student at Wesleyan University he founded the nation’s largest collegiate poetry slam, and has gone on to perform and teach internationally. His workshops focus on community building, perceptions of masculinity, and breaking down rape culture on college campuses. Recently, Mike traveled to India to meet activists, poets and teachers; he performed in several cities including a capacity crowd in Pune.

Date: Saturday, September 24
Time: 7:00-9:00 PM
Place: The Bayit (157 Church Street)

EVENT
WeSLAM Presents: The Prop Slam

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If you ever wanted to slam it up, now’s the perfect time! WeSLAM’s spring semester slam series is more chill than the fall – with slams not geared to forming a team; rather, the focus is on creativity and the beauty of the spoken word. With that said, WeSLAM’s first slam of the semester is…
THE PROP SLAM! Though it takes the same three-minute-and-ten-second format, this slam ignores the evil “No Prop” Rule! So you can recite an ode to a banana, drum to give your slam rhythm, speak a poetic diatribe of how your toaster wronged you: anything goes in terms of the props So get creative! Just remember only one prop per poem. This slam will be held on February 8th, so start preparing! If you’re interested in signing up, email weslam(dot)wesleyan(at)gmail(dot)com after 5pm on the day of the slam. If you’re interested but don’t know where to start, be sure to check out Writers’ Bloc, every Sunday from 4-5:30, for some nifty prompts to get the ideas flowing. More information will be revealed closer to the slam, but now’s the chance to get a head start on writing poems for the slam! We’d love to hear your words and see your banana or toaster or whatever you choose to prop it up with!

Date: Saturday, February 8th
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Alpha Delt

EVENT
WeSLAM presents: The 2013 Grand Slam

Grand Slam Poster Final (color).white
WeSLAM encourages you to rethink your Saturday plans:
The biggest slam of the semester has arrived! It will be entertaining; it will be beautiful; it will be grand. 10 poets. 2 rounds. 5 victors. Come support some super-talented poets as they vie for a coveted spot on the 2014 Wesleyan Slam Team!
Come see the following Wesleyan students compete:
Coz Deicke ’15
Max Friedlich ’17
Markeisha Hill ’16
Morgan Hill ’15
Cherkira Lashley ’15
Rick Manayan ’17
Chando Mapoma ’16
Oscar Parajon ’16
Arielle Trager ’14
Emily Weitzman ’14
…and see Jess Best ’14 (whose senior recital is tonight and you should go to it), Jeff Berman ’14 and Will Fraker ’14 play some lovely tunes…
…and see our wonderful host and feature, the one and only Simone Beaubien, who has organized the National Poetry Slam twice and is a beautiful wordsmith and individual…
…and experience the power of words you probably couldn’t imagine. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this.
Date: Saturday, November 23
Time: 9pm (doors at 8:30)
Place: CFA Hall
Facebook: Yes.

EVENT
The Second Preliminary Slam

 

weslam second prelim

WeSLAM‘s killing it with the events lately. This is the second of three preliminary slams. Ten poets. Three victors. The victors are guaranteed coveted spots in The Final Slam, in which they’ll be competing for a place on the 2013-14 Wesleyan Slam Team. If you want to watch your peers spill their hearts out or make you laugh in poems under three minutes and ten seconds, you don’t want to miss this. Also, the slam will feature two amazing poets – Safia Elhillo and Connor Sampson! If you’re interested in competing in the slam, want to check out some of Safia and Connor’s poems or just want to see where you’ll be this Thursday, venture beyond the jump.

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EVENT
WeSLAM Poetry Workshop – Saturday, 4:00 PM

poetry forever alone

WeSLAM wants you to be the very best (poet), like no one ever was:

Do you have a poem that you are thinking about performing in a poetry slam, but you want some help and suggestions and edits? Or do you just want to work on some material with a lovely, good-looking group of poets? We are having a poetry slam workshop this Saturday at 4 PM in Allbritton 311! All are welcome. We will help out with page edits or performance edits or both. Bring what you are working on!

Date: Saturday, October 12
Time: 4PM
Place: Allbritton 311

EVENT
WeSLAM Presents: Preliminary Slam #1 (feat. Megan Falley)

meganfalley

Emily Weitzman ’14 writes:

The first preliminary slam of the semester is here.

10 poets. 2 rounds. Who will take the first three spots in the Wesleyan Final Slam? Come watch these poets battle with beautiful words. Anyone is welcome to slam, regardless of experience.

If you’ve never been to a slam before: come! If you’ve been to every slam we’ve ever had: come! You will laugh and snap and cheer and cry and maybe make some silly faces. WeSLAM is going into its 4th year, and we want to start it off right. You’re not going to want to miss this.

But that’s not all. We’re starting off the semester with an unbelievable guest feature and host: MEGAN FALLEY!

  • WHEN?: Friday at 7:30pm
  • WHERE?: WestCo Café
  • FACEBOOK?: Here.

For those interested in participating in the slam, there is more info below the jump.

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EVENT
WeSLAM, SAGES and WildWes Present: The Spring Slam

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WeSLAM doesn’t want you to miss the supreme, most salad-y slam of the semester:

The Spring Slam. Come celebrate spring. And vegetables. And the earth. And poetry. Live music will be provided by Immanuel Lokwei ’12, Andrew Pfeiffer ’13, and Greg Shaheen ’13!

Oh, there’s a special surprise scoring-method! If you’ve never slammed before, this is the perfect chance. No intimidation: just love, good weather, the earth and hugs from the WeSLAM family.
Laura Lamb Brown-Lavoie is gonna be featuring (she’s super dope; check her out here and here). Lily Myers ’15 and Solomon Billinkoff ’14 are gonna be hosting. Kate Weiner ’15 is gonna talk about the earth. (Hopefully) You’re gonna be slamming.

Wait! There’s more! This is outside! I repeat: outside! 

Come through!

Date: Thursday, May 2
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: WestCo Courtyard
Facebook: springspringspring

EVENT
Middletown Potluck Tonight

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Ari Ebstein ’16 is hungry for community bonding, and you should be, too:

Come to a Middletown Potluck today @ Green Street Arts Center, 5:30-8:00

Middletown and Wesleyan poets and jammers will be there, as will delicious food, and many new friends! Bring some homies, perhaps a dish or two, and if you’re feeling inspired, a poem or acoustic song to share.

Alls free, but we appreciate anyone who brings food. :)

Date: Sunday, April 21
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Place: Green Street Arts Center
Cost: Free (bring friends, food, poetry or an acoustic song to share)

EVENT
WeSLAM Presents: The BIG Slam

Big Slam

Wesleyan’s slam coach of the year Emily Weitzman ’14 encourages you to come watch some beautiful poetic ass-kicking:

WESLEYAN’S SECOND ANNUAL INTERCOLLEGIATE POETRY SLAM:
Wesleyan vs. Yale vs. SUNY Oneonta vs. Storm Team!

Bring your friends! Bring your enemies! Bring that random prefrosh wandering around after WesFest!

The 2013 Wesleyan Slam Poetry Team will compete against slam teams from Yale, SUNY Oneonta, and a Storm Team made up of special guests. This competition will give you a taste of the poetry from some of the 60 competing teams at college slam nationals last week.

Also, the Wesleyan Slam Poetry Team will be selling chapbooks to raise money for WeSLAM! These chapbooks are “pay what you want” – your contribution will help us bring dope poets to campus next year!

See you at the slam. The BIG slam. Come ready to get loud and feel things with us.

Date: April 19
Time: 9 PM
Place: CFA Hall
Facebook: Evkeisha Lashmyerberg gon’ kill it!

FEATURED
Let Us Not Become Tragedies: Buddy Wakefield at Crowell

Sorry, we don’t actually have photographs. We were too in the moment. Sue us.

BuddyHomePageImage

Until now, I hadn’t realized just how much of Buddy Wakefield‘s poetry dealt with tragedy. But not in a soul-crushing, terrible way. Actually, the opposite of that. And it wasn’t quite clear until he left the stage on Thursday night.

I’ve listened and watched his material for years, ever since I got into performance poetry.  Because everyone who knows performance poetry knows Buddy. He is, of course, a two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and author for Write Bloody Publishing, and since the last time he came to perform on campus, he got a venue upgrade. Crowell Concert Hall was pretty impressively filled, and no surprise: the WeSlam team advertised the hell out of the event.

It was also a chance for the WeSlam team to show off their newest poetry, with which they’re currently competing this weekend.  My prediction? They’ll sweep up. After having gone to the first slam last semester, I was blown away by what the team members have developed over the past few months. They were the openers, but they could have well been the main event.

Buddy is not a slam poet in that same sense, however, so the hour and a half he occupied the stage was a completely different world. Instead of confining his works to 3-minute, competition-ready pieces (which some of them are, but not many), Buddy stretches his out in every sense of the word. He walks softly past six, seven, even eight minutes, often with gorgeous, textured piano or guitar in the background. And as I’d hoped, cellist/vocalist and woman-about-campus Mel Hsu ’13 and pianist  Simon Riker ’14 not only introduced Buddy but accompanied him throughout the performance. Hard to believe they improvised it all.

After the jump, read more about Buddy’s performance, and catch up on some heart-wrenching recordings of his poetry. It may just change your life, or at least make you think closer about it.

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