This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 670,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it.
Showing posts with label Joy Young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joy Young. Show all posts

Saturday, June 7, 2014

TODAY: 12 poets battle in the Sedona Grand Poetry Slam on Saturday, June 7


Today, Saturday, June 7, the best poets in Arizona will compete in the 2014 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.



The slam is the final the 2014 season, which culminates in selection of Sedona's third National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

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, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity. The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.

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, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., and its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass.

The 12 top poets who will compete on June 7 include:

Maya Hall

Maya Hall is a triplet and a lover of life.

When she isn't busy working on poetry she's studying for an art education degree as well as gearing up for a masters in counseling.

She's ready for the path that poetry is taking her and is up for anything in this new, exciting chapter of her life and hoping to get her words out to a larger audience.

Spencer Troth


Spencer Troth was born in the humble town of Mesa, after it was no longer a humble town. He has lived across the Phoenix Metro area, but has now learned to call Flagstaff his home. Having just completed his degree in Political Science, Troth is a fresh young adult looking to find his place in the world of politics, though he has always kept a special place in his heart for poetry. As a poet, Troth has competed in slams for about two years, garnering a place on Sedona's national team in 2012 to compete in Charlotte, N.C.

Troth has a writing style which can be saturated with images, and sometimes difficult to interpret, but claims that beneath it all there is a narrative which he wishes to convey in every piece.

"I have always tried to take a more normal experience, falling in love, traveling, experiencing a friend pass; and break it down into more abstract images and concepts. I think this is how my mind operates, and with poetry, my inevitable goal is to bring people into a place where they may experience the things which influence me in a similar fashion to how I am affected by them," Troth said.

Rowie Shebala


Roanna Shebala, a Native American spoken word artist, of the Diné – Navajo – Tribe was born and raised on the Navajo Nation.

Given the gift of storytelling from her father she combines story, poetry, and performance.

Shebala constantly brings the voice of her heritage into her performance, and written work often treading into spaces where hearing native voices is unlikely.

In doing so, she hopes to reframe what it means to be a Native person for the masses, point out the appropriation of her people's culture, and reclaim an identity that has perverted by heavily edited versions of history, the invisibilization of indigenous peoples today, and the use of those people as caricatures for mass amusement.

Lauren Perry


A slam poet for 11 years, Lauren Perry has been a four-time Women of the World competitor, representing Phoenix, Mesa and Sedona.

Something to be said for a Persona Poet – there is no box to think out of as they are not limited to one person but rather bring the voice another to carry the conversation outside any guidelines.

In 2013, Perry joined her fifth National Poetry Slam team, one that would rank seventh in the country and make it to semi-finals.

Her poems use great depth and multiple layers that tap dance back a round-robin to the beginning to tell more than one story but leave a complete image in the audience's head.

A born sarcastic, with a dark sense of humor, she’s not one to not love or perform anything less than hard.

Valence

Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas is a performance poet and new media artist based in Arizona.

Spoken word, performance art, electronic music, and visual art are all elements of Valence's artistic vision. In 2011, he began competing in poetry slams, and represented Flagstaff at the 2011 National Poetry Slam. In 2012, he won the Sedona Grand Slam, and in 2013 secured a spot on the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team.

Valence has lived in Arizona for the last decade, but was born in and spent his childhood in Chicago. Part of the last generation to know first-hand what life was like before the internet, Valence is grateful for anything that makes people silence their smartphones.

In the future, Valence has plans for touring, various projects, and a new style of performance art that combines spoken word with live video and music. At only 23 years of age, he's still somewhat green but definitely done screwing around.

Lauren Remy

Lauren Remy is 16 years old and a resident of Sedona.

Remy has been a part of youth poetry slams for two years. People have likely seen her spitting some poetry at Java Love Café.

Remy writes metaphors about fire, or flowers, or space. When she’s not spitting some radical poetry she’s being a thespian at Sedona Red Rock High School.

Remy is a cool cat. But isn’t as cool of a cat as James Gould (the glorious leader of North Korea).

Gould is inspiring to Remy because he isn’t narcissistic in the slightest. Also, by the way, Remy is NOT James’s secret admirer.

James Gould


James Gould is kind of a big deal. He is not only Sedona's "Most Successful Rap Battle Host Ever," but also a competing poet for the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team.

He performs poetry to get stuff off his chest, like breast reduction.

He lives and works in Sedona, as "The Best Web Developer You Ever Saw." He writes poems on subjects including, but not limited to, dinosaurs, free speech, his irrationally rational fears of babies and fans, and cute people.

"He is probably the best person ever, and not in the slightest narcissistic." -James's Secret Admirer (Definitely not James).

Gabbi Jue

Gabbi "Truth Bomb" Jue is a spoken word poet, dancer, creator and survivor with an insatiable love for things that turn pain into beauty.

Tribulations and triumphs in her lifetime influence her art, which she uses to bring strength and hope for others and herself. She has been a member of the Northern Arizona poetry community since 2011 and was a member of FlagSlam’s 2013 National Poetry Slam Team that competed at the National Poetry Slam in Boston.

No fear of telling it how it is, her tendency to speak her mind bluntly and honestly has coined her the nickname "Truth Bomb."

Joy Young

Joy Young is a Phoenix-based spoken word performance and teaching artist.

A self-described “circus-poet,” she believes that often, the best response to a world constructed of ridiculous assumptions and expectations is to be equally ridiculous. It is through the juxtaposition of perceived realities and the absurd that she hopes to unveil places of possibility and queer our understanding of the world around us.

Her unique body of work often explores nuanced understandings of gender, sex, and sexuality in ways that frame personal narratives as part of larger social justice topics.

Evan Dissinger

Evan Dissinger is 24 years old and currently living in Flagstaff. He has been involved with slam poetry since 2008 and has been on two national teams; 2008 with FlagSlam and again in 2012 as a member of team Sedona.

Dissinger lives with one cat and is often found hunched over a canvas or cruising on a skateboard when not at his restaurant day job.

Dissinger is an inquisitive Aquarius with a unique interpretation of the world around him. Dissinger caries a timid boldness that can be found reflected in his art.

Verbal Kensington

With a background ranging the spectrum from accounting to pyrotechnics, Meg "Verbal" Kensington is Necessary Publishing’s Creative Director and competed on the 2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team in Boston.

She’s also a writer, poet, artist, and mentor. Others know her as a verbal mercenary, with an uncanny knack for organization.

Her most valued achievements include the ability to speak unabashedly in the third person, the precise calculation of road-trip gas mileage in her beloved vintage Subaru, and the unobtrusive creation of an amazing array of late-night snacks.

She aspires to become more like her favorite animal, the platypus – the only earthly creature who is both astonishingly cuddly, and horrendously poisonous.

With her unique combination of extreme intelligence and stunning good looks, she plans to one day take over the world – starting today.

The Klute


Phoenix-area crackpot Jerome du Bois once said of The Klute: "You have one of the blackest hearts I've ever had the misfortune to glimpse," so in 2007, The Klute received an upgrade.

With the implantation of a Freestyle bioprosthesis, The Klute now has "superior flow characteristics." His heart remains blacker than ever.

The Klute, part man, part machine, all of him sarcastic, is a fixture of the Arizona poetry scene, having been on five National Slam Poetry Teams from Mesa (2002-2003, 2005-2006, and 2010) and four from Phoenix (2008-2009, 2012-2013).

In 2014 he will be published in anthologies by Write Bloody and Sergeant Press. He's a one-man psy-ops campaign bringing the system down from inside. He buys low and sells high. He keeps the Grim Reaper on speed dial and his absinthe on ice.

Christopher Fox Graham


The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on seven FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2013.

He recently earned a slot on the 2014 FlagSlam team which will compete alongside the Sedona team at Nationals. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Joy Young competes at the Sedona Poetry Grand Slam on June 7 against Arizona's best slam poets








Joy Young is a Phoenix-based spoken word performance and teaching artist.

A self-described “circus-poet,” she believes that often, the best response to a world constructed of ridiculous assumptions and expectations is to be equally ridiculous.

It is through the juxtaposition of perceived realities and the absurd that she hopes to unveil places of possibility and queer our understanding of the world around us.

Her unique body of work often explores nuanced understandings of gender, sex, and sexuality in ways that frame personal narratives as part of larger social justice topics.

Joy Young will face off with poets The Klute, Verbal Kensington, Evan Dissinger, Gabbi Jue, James Gould, Lauren Remy, Valence, Lauren Perry, Rowie Shebala, Spencer Troth and Maya Hall at the Sedona Poetry Grand Slam.



On Saturday, June 7, the best poets in Arizona will compete in the 2014 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.


The slam is the final the 2014 season, which culminates in selection of Sedona's third National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

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, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity. The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.

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, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., and its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

12 poets battle in the Sedona Grand Poetry Slam on Saturday, June 7


On Saturday, June 7, the best poets in Arizona will compete in the 2014 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.



The slam is the final the 2014 season, which culminates in selection of Sedona's third National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in August. Poets in the slam come from as far away as Phoenix and Flagstaff, competing against adult poets from Sedona, college poets from Northern Arizona University, and youth poets from Sedona Red Rock High School's Young Voices Be Heard slam group.

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, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity. The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam.

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, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.

Sedona sent its first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., and its second to the 2013 NPS in Boston and Cambridge, Mass.

The 12 top poets who will compete on June 7 include:

Maya Hall

Maya Hall is a triplet and a lover of life.

When she isn't busy working on poetry she's studying for an art education degree as well as gearing up for a masters in counseling.

She's ready for the path that poetry is taking her and is up for anything in this new, exciting chapter of her life and hoping to get her words out to a larger audience.

Spencer Troth


Spencer Troth was born in the humble town of Mesa, after it was no longer a humble town. He has lived across the Phoenix Metro area, but has now learned to call Flagstaff his home. Having just completed his degree in Political Science, Troth is a fresh young adult looking to find his place in the world of politics, though he has always kept a special place in his heart for poetry. As a poet, Troth has competed in slams for about two years, garnering a place on Sedona's national team in 2012 to compete in Charlotte, N.C.

Troth has a writing style which can be saturated with images, and sometimes difficult to interpret, but claims that beneath it all there is a narrative which he wishes to convey in every piece.

"I have always tried to take a more normal experience, falling in love, traveling, experiencing a friend pass; and break it down into more abstract images and concepts. I think this is how my mind operates, and with poetry, my inevitable goal is to bring people into a place where they may experience the things which influence me in a similar fashion to how I am affected by them," Troth said.

Rowie Shebala


Roanna Shebala, a Native American spoken word artist, of the Diné – Navajo – Tribe was born and raised on the Navajo Nation.

Given the gift of storytelling from her father she combines story, poetry, and performance.

Shebala constantly brings the voice of her heritage into her performance, and written work often treading into spaces where hearing native voices is unlikely.

In doing so, she hopes to reframe what it means to be a Native person for the masses, point out the appropriation of her people's culture, and reclaim an identity that has perverted by heavily edited versions of history, the invisibilization of indigenous peoples today, and the use of those people as caricatures for mass amusement.

Lauren Perry


A slam poet for 11 years, Lauren Perry has been a four-time Women of the World competitor, representing Phoenix, Mesa and Sedona.

Something to be said for a Persona Poet – there is no box to think out of as they are not limited to one person but rather bring the voice another to carry the conversation outside any guidelines.

In 2013, Perry joined her fifth National Poetry Slam team, one that would rank seventh in the country and make it to semi-finals.

Her poems use great depth and multiple layers that tap dance back a round-robin to the beginning to tell more than one story but leave a complete image in the audience's head.

A born sarcastic, with a dark sense of humor, she’s not one to not love or perform anything less than hard.

Valence

Tyler "Valence" Sirvinskas is a performance poet and new media artist based in Arizona.

Spoken word, performance art, electronic music, and visual art are all elements of Valence's artistic vision. In 2011, he began competing in poetry slams, and represented Flagstaff at the 2011 National Poetry Slam. In 2012, he won the Sedona Grand Slam, and in 2013 secured a spot on the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team.

Valence has lived in Arizona for the last decade, but was born in and spent his childhood in Chicago. Part of the last generation to know first-hand what life was like before the internet, Valence is grateful for anything that makes people silence their smartphones.

In the future, Valence has plans for touring, various projects, and a new style of performance art that combines spoken word with live video and music. At only 23 years of age, he's still somewhat green but definitely done screwing around.

Lauren Remy

Lauren Remy is 16 years old and a resident of Sedona.

Remy has been a part of youth poetry slams for two years. People have likely seen her spitting some poetry at Java Love Café.

Remy writes metaphors about fire, or flowers, or space. When she’s not spitting some radical poetry she’s being a thespian at Sedona Red Rock High School.

Remy is a cool cat. But isn’t as cool of a cat as James Gould (the glorious leader of North Korea).

Gould is inspiring to Remy because he isn’t narcissistic in the slightest. Also, by the way, Remy is NOT James’s secret admirer.

James Gould


James Gould is kind of a big deal. He is not only Sedona's "Most Successful Rap Battle Host Ever," but also a competing poet for the Sedona National Poetry Slam Team.

He performs poetry to get stuff off his chest, like breast reduction.

He lives and works in Sedona, as "The Best Web Developer You Ever Saw." He writes poems on subjects including, but not limited to, dinosaurs, free speech, his irrationally rational fears of babies and fans, and cute people.

"He is probably the best person ever, and not in the slightest narcissistic." -James's Secret Admirer (Definitely not James).

Gabbi Jue

Gabbi "Truth Bomb" Jue is a spoken word poet, dancer, creator and survivor with an insatiable love for things that turn pain into beauty.

Tribulations and triumphs in her lifetime influence her art, which she uses to bring strength and hope for others and herself. She has been a member of the Northern Arizona poetry community since 2011 and was a member of FlagSlam’s 2013 National Poetry Slam Team that competed at the National Poetry Slam in Boston.

No fear of telling it how it is, her tendency to speak her mind bluntly and honestly has coined her the nickname "Truth Bomb."

Joy Young

Joy Young is a Phoenix-based spoken word performance and teaching artist.

A self-described “circus-poet,” she believes that often, the best response to a world constructed of ridiculous assumptions and expectations is to be equally ridiculous. It is through the juxtaposition of perceived realities and the absurd that she hopes to unveil places of possibility and queer our understanding of the world around us.

Her unique body of work often explores nuanced understandings of gender, sex, and sexuality in ways that frame personal narratives as part of larger social justice topics.

Evan Dissinger

Evan Dissinger is 24 years old and currently living in Flagstaff. He has been involved with slam poetry since 2008 and has been on two national teams; 2008 with FlagSlam and again in 2012 as a member of team Sedona.

Dissinger lives with one cat and is often found hunched over a canvas or cruising on a skateboard when not at his restaurant day job.

Dissinger is an inquisitive Aquarius with a unique interpretation of the world around him. Dissinger caries a timid boldness that can be found reflected in his art.

Verbal Kensington

With a background ranging the spectrum from accounting to pyrotechnics, Meg "Verbal" Kensington is Necessary Publishing’s Creative Director and competed on the 2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team in Boston.

She’s also a writer, poet, artist, and mentor. Others know her as a verbal mercenary, with an uncanny knack for organization.

Her most valued achievements include the ability to speak unabashedly in the third person, the precise calculation of road-trip gas mileage in her beloved vintage Subaru, and the unobtrusive creation of an amazing array of late-night snacks.

She aspires to become more like her favorite animal, the platypus – the only earthly creature who is both astonishingly cuddly, and horrendously poisonous.

With her unique combination of extreme intelligence and stunning good looks, she plans to one day take over the world – starting today.

The Klute


Phoenix-area crackpot Jerome du Bois once said of The Klute: "You have one of the blackest hearts I've ever had the misfortune to glimpse," so in 2007, The Klute received an upgrade.

With the implantation of a Freestyle bioprosthesis, The Klute now has "superior flow characteristics." His heart remains blacker than ever.

The Klute, part man, part machine, all of him sarcastic, is a fixture of the Arizona poetry scene, having been on five National Slam Poetry Teams from Mesa (2002-2003, 2005-2006, and 2010) and four from Phoenix (2008-2009, 2012-2013).

In 2014 he will be published in anthologies by Write Bloody and Sergeant Press. He's a one-man psy-ops campaign bringing the system down from inside. He buys low and sells high. He keeps the Grim Reaper on speed dial and his absinthe on ice.

Christopher Fox Graham


The Sedona Poetry Grand Slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on seven FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2013.

He recently earned a slot on the 2014 FlagSlam team which will compete alongside the Sedona team at Nationals. Graham has hosted the Sedona Poetry Slam since 2009.

 

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Evan Dissinger wins the sixth Sedona Poetry Slam of 2014



Round 1
Poet Score Time Penalty Net Score
Maya Hall 22.1 2:10 0.0 22.1
EJ McCormick 21.1 3:30 -1.5 19.6
Jeff Berger 14.9 3:32 -1.5 13.4
Leano Rice 25.7 3:38 -1.5 24.2
Gary Every 23.8 4:11 -3.5 20.3
Dan Seaman 28.1 4:33 -4.5 23.6
Gabbi Jue 23.7 2:26 0.0 23.7
Joe Griffin 24.0 1:25 0.0 24.0
Cindy Rowe 24.8 1:07 0.0 24.8
The Klute 26.7 2:55 0.0 26.7
Valence 27.5 2:44 0.0 27.5
James Gould 27.1 2:18 0.0 27.1
Evan Dissinger 29.0 3:23 -1.0 28.0
Joy Young 27.7 3:05 0.0 27.7
Josh Wiss 25.9 2:52 0.0 25.9
Round 2
Poet Score Time Penalty Net Score
Josh Wiss 28.3 2:19 0.0 28.3
Joy Young 28.4 3:10 0.0 28.4
Evan Dissinger 28.6 2:13 0.0 28.7
James Gould 27.0 1:50 0.0 27.0
Valence 28.2 2:36 0.0 28.2
The Klute 26.5 3:07 0.0 26.5
Cindy Rowe 24.7 0:48 0.0 24.7
Joe Griffin 25.5 1:18 0.0 25.5
Gabbi Jue 28.0 2:29 0.0 28.0
Dan Seaman 28.3 3:46 -2.0 26.3
Gary Every 26.4 5:34 -7.5 18.9
Leano Rice 26.2 2:39 0.0 26.2
Jeff Berger 20.3 2:13 0.0 20.3
EJ McCormick 25.8 2:45 0.0 25.8
Maya Hall 26.9 2:33 0.0 26.9
Round 3
Poet Score Time Penalty Net Score
Evan Dissinger 27.9 2:31 0.0 27.9
Valence 28.1 1:52 0.0 28.1
Joy Young 28.0 2:56 0.0 28.0
Josh Wiss 28.6 2:03 0.0 28.6
James Gould 28.6 2:50 0.0 28.6
Final
Poet Score


Evan Dissinger 84.5


Joy Young 84.1


Valence 83.8


Josh Wiss 82.8


James Gould 82.7


The Klute 53.2


Gabbi Jue 51.7


Leano Rice 50.4


Dan Seaman 49.9


Joe Griffin 49.5


Cindy Rowe 49.5


Maya Hall 49.0


EJ McCormick 45.4


Gary Every 39.2


Jeff Berger 33.7


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Ryan Brown wins the fourth Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam Season

Photo by Tara Graeber
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, wins the Feb. 16 Sedona Poetry Slam.
Ryan Brown wins the fourth Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam Season.


Round 1
Random Draw

Calibration: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Valence, of Flagstaff, 2:28, 25.9
Slammy D, of Flagstaff, 2:38, 25.5
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 2:24, 23.7
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 1:36, 24.8
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 3:11, 28.3 (after 0.5 time penalty)
Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff, 3:02, 25.7
The Klute, of Phoenix, 2:58, 28.1
Ky J. Dio, of Flagstaff, 1:59, 24.2
Susan Okie, of Washington D.C., 1:38, 23.3
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 2:00, 26.1
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 2:31, 28.2

Teaser: Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix

Round 2
Reverse Order
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 2:36, 27.3, 55.5
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 2:47, 26.3, 52.4
Susan Okie, of Washington D.C., 1:39, 23.3, 46.6
Ky J. Dio, of Flagstaff, 1:53, 25.2, 50.9
The Klute, of Phoenix, 2:40, 27.0, 55.1
Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff, 2:31, 27.0, 52.7
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 28.2, 28.2, 56.5
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 2:10, 26.6, 51.4
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 3:06, 29.2, 52.9
Slammy D, of Flagstaff, 1:04, 25.9, 51.4
Valence, of Flagstaff, 2:02, 28.5, 53.4

Feature: Jeremiah Blue

Jeremiah Blue features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Jeremiah Blue is a Phoenix-based poet that has organized, hosted, and performed in the poetry slam scene since 2006. He has performed at a variety of venues throughout the country.

Currently, Blue co-hosts a weekly poetry slam in downtown Phoenix at Lawn Gnome Bookstore.

In 2007, he earned the title of Phoenix Poetry Slam Champion and has represented Phoenix twice at the National Poetry Slam. He also became the Individual Poetry Slam Champion for Phoenix in 2012, earning him the slot to represent the city at the Individual World Poetry Slam.

You can reach him on Facebook or you can email him at jsblue@gmail.com for more information or booking.


Round 3
High to Low
Sorbet:Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff

Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 3:00, 28.5, 85.0
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 1:31, 28.5, 84.0
The Klute, of Phoenix, 1:53, 28.6, 83.7
Valence, of Flagstaff, 1:53, 28.1, 81.0
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 3:15, 27.6 (after 0.5 time penalty), 78.2

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona

Victory: Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff

Final Scores
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 85.0

Joy Young, of Phoenix, 84.0 - Winner of the Sedona slot for the Women of the World Poetry Slam

The Klute, of Phoenix, 83.7

Valence, of Flagstaff, 81.0
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 78.2

Ashley Swazey, of Flagstaff,52.7
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 52.4
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 51.4
Slammy D, of Flagstaff, 51.4
Ky J. Dio, of Flagstaff, 50.9
Susan Okie, of Washington D.C., 46.6

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Slamoff Point Standings
9 points
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff✓✓
The Klute, of Phoenix
8 points
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff✓
7 points
Joy Young, of Phoenix
5 points
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff
4 points
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff
Leo Bryant, of Richmond, Calif.✓
3 points
Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix
2 points
Ashley Swazey, of Phoenix
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix
Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona
1.5 points
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff
Valence, of Flagstaff
1 points
Bill Campana, of Mesa
Gary Every, of Sedona
Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.
Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff
Jasmine "Jazz" Sufi Wilkenson of Santa Cruz, Calif.
Jordan Ranft, of Santa Rosa, Calif.
Ky J. Dio, of Flagstaff
Lauren Deja, of Phoenix
Little Blue Lyon-Fish, of Phoenix
nodalone, of Flagstaff
Robert Gonzales, of Flagstaff
Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix
Slammy D, of Flagstaff
Susan Okie, of Washington D.C.,
Vincent Vega, of Flagstaff
0.5 points
Verbal Kensington, of Flagstaff

✓ = won a Sedona Poetry Slam

Friday, February 15, 2013

Get your tickets now for Sedona Poetry Slam tomorrow


Jeremiah Blue features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Feb. 16

The current lineup:
Ryan Brown
Talyne Corlyn
Ky J. Dio
Evan Dissinger
Sammy Dominguez
Lileana Fangz
Josh Floyd
The Klute
Taylor Hayes
John Quinonez
Austin Reeves
Jackie Stockwell
Ashley Swazey
Joy Young

Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, Feb. 16, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring Phoenix poet Jeremiah Blue and hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham.


The Feb. 16 poetry is slam is also the qualifier for Sedona's representative to
the International Women of the World Poetry Slam
All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporter Jeanne Freeland.

The slam is the fourth of the 2012-13 season, which will culminate in selection of Sedona's second National Poetry Slam Team, the foursome and alternate who will represent the city at the National Poetry Slam in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in August.

The local poets will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression. Sedona sent its five-poet first team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.

To compete in the slam, poets need at least three original poems, each three minutes long or shorter. No props, costumes or musical accompaniment are permitted. All types of poetry are welcome.

The slam will be hosted by Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on six FlagSlam National Poetry Slams in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2012.

Contact Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com to sign up to slam.

Jeremiah Blue

Jeremiah Blue features at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Jeremiah Blue is a Phoenix-based poet that has organized, hosted, and performed in the poetry slam scene since 2006. He has performed at a variety of venues throughout the country.

Currently, Blue co-hosts a weekly poetry slam in downtown Phoenix at Lawn Gnome Bookstore.

In 2007, he earned the title of Phoenix Poetry Slam Champion and has represented Phoenix twice at the National Poetry Slam. He also became the Individual Poetry Slam Champion for Phoenix in 2012, earning him the slot to represent the city at the Individual World Poetry Slam.

You can reach him on Facebook or you can email him at jsblue@gmail.com for more information or booking.

Women of the World Poetry Slam Qualifier


This slam is also the qualifier for Sedona's representative to the International Women of the World Poetry Slam, to be held in Minneapolis from March 6-9. The highest ranked female or female-identified poet from earns Sedona's WOWps slot.

Eligibility: Poets who live their lives as women are eligible to participate in the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Competitors are eligible from certified venues or as individuals from areas without certified venues (a.k.a. “Storm” poets). Certified venues have a window of time to enter before individuals not associated with certified slams are able to enter. All certified venues must have a competition to determine their contestants.

All competitors must be PSI members in good standing and must agree to participate in the event following the rules of Slam as well as the Code of Honor, and must allow for PSI to videotape their performances for PSI owned product.

What is Poetry Slam?


Founded in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets' contents and performances.

Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.

All types of poetry are welcome on the stage, from street-wise hip-hop and narrative performance poems, to political rants and introspective confessionals. Any poem is a "slam" poem if performed in a competition. All poets get three minutes per round to entertain their audience with their creativity.

2013 Sedona National Poetry Slam Team


Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between September and May. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.

Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Boston. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.

For poetry slam standings, videos from past slams, and updates, visit foxthepoet.org.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available online at studiolivesedona.com.

Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Josh Wiss wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season

Josh Wiss wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season, held Nov. 17, at Studio Live in West Sedona.

Josh Wiss of Flagstaff and Phoenix, wins the second Sedona Poetry Slam of the 2012-13 National Poetry Slam season


Round 1
Random Draw
** Unfortunately, I saved over the November slam's scores with the December slam's scores. From the video, I was able to rebuild the later half of the slam, but the first half of the slam only has the poems, not the scores. Where applicable, I have the scores listed. **
Calibration: Valence, of Phoenix
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 22.5
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff
Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 24.5
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff
Gary Every, of Sedona
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Leo, of Camp Verde
Joy Young, of Phoenix
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
The Klute, of Phoenix

Teaser: Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.

Round 2
Reverse Order
The Klute, of Phoenix
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Joy Young, of Phoenix
Leo, of Camp Verde
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Gary Every, of Sedona
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff, 24.0
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 27.9
Charles Levett, of Phoenix, 25.1
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff, voluntarily disqualified for peforming Shane Hawley cover poem
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.7

Slam poet Houston Hughes from Fayetteville, Ark., featured at Sedona's Studio Live
on Saturday, Nov. 17
Feature: Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.

Sorbet: Christopher Fox Graham, of "Oil & Deep Water, Part II: Étouffée"

Round 3
High to Low
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 26.3, 79.7
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 26.9, 79.3
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 28.7, 80.8
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 28.5, 79.7
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 28.7, 77.6

Tied for second place at 79.7, Joy Young, of Phoenix, beat Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, in a Haiku Death Match.

Victory: Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff

Final Scores
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff, 80.8
Joy Young, of Phoenix, 79.7 (2nd after Haiku Death Match)
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 79.7 (3rd after Haiku Death Match)
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff, 79.3
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff, 77.6

The Klute, of Phoenix

Leo, of Camp Verde
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Gary Every, of Sedona
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff

Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff

Scorekeeper: Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff
Camerawoman: Azami, of Sedona

Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Slamoff Point Standings
6 points
Josh Wiss, of Flagstaff ✓
4 points
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff ✓
The Klute, of Phoenix
3 points
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff
Joy Young, of Phoenix
2 points 
Austin Reeves, of Flagstaff
Bert Cisneros, of Cottonwood
Charles Levett, of Phoenix
Christopher Fox Graham, of Sedona
1 point
Ashley Swazey, of Phoenix
Gary Every, of Sedona
Houston Hughes, of Fayetteville, Ark.
Jackie Stockwell, of Flagstaff
Jackson Morris, of Flagstaff
Jeremiah Blue, of Phoenix
Josh Floyd, of Flagstaff
Lauren Deja, of Phoenix
Lauren Perry, of Phoenix
Little Blue Lyon-Fish, of Phoenix
Lynn Gravatt, of Sedona
nodalone, of Las Vegas
Rowie Shebala, of Phoenix
Taylor Hayes, of Flagstaff 
0.5 points
Vincent Vega, of Flagstaff

✓ = won a Sedona Poetry Slam