Sedona picks its nationals team at Poetry Grand Slam
On Saturday, June 9, the best poets in Arizona will compete in the 2018 Sedona Poetry Grand Slam, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre, 2030 W. State Route 89A, Suite A-3.
Tickets are $12, available online or at the door.
The slam is the climax of the 2018 season and the biggest poetry slam of the year because the audience will select the winning foursome and alternate to officially represent Sedona and the Verde Valley at the National Poetry Slam in Denver in August.
All 12 poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their own original work. The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.
Poets competed at six slams over the last nine months, earning points through wins just to be able to compete on the Grand Slam stage.
Competitors came from as far away as Phoenix, Prescott and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona, college poets from Northern Arizona University and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School and Verde Valley School.
The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on 10 FlagSlam National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2016. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.
What is Poetry Slam?
Founded in Chicago in 1984, slam poetry is an art form that allows written page poets to share their work alongside theatrical performers, hip-hop artists and lyricists. While many people may think of poetry as dull and laborious, a poetry slam is like a series of high-energy, three-minute one-person plays.
All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a “slam” poem if performed in a competition.
At Nationals, the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe. While the highlight of the event is the competition, the week is filled with writing workshops, featured performances, themed readings and several “underground” poetry competitions.