Qualifying Poetry Slam

On January 29^th, 2009, the ‘Word is Born Poets’ Society’—in collaboration with the University Student Programming Union and the Furious Flower Poetry Center—sponsored the 2^nd Annual Qualifying Poetry Slam in Taylor Down Under. Considering the phenomenal audience turnout during the 2007 Qualifier, we were eager to promote this event; however focusing our efforts on encouraging more performers to compete. With the chartering of ‘Word is Born’ as an official organization under JMU’s student organization umbrella, our outreach has broadened and newfound poets have been embraced under our wing.

In order to make this event far more outstanding than a traditional open mic, we invited a JMU poet alum to host for the evening—Ms. Joy Petway. She has been a Qualifier who has represented JMU in both Regional and National Poetry Slam Competitions—contributing to Region V’s profound reputation. As an emcee, she not only facilitated the progression of the event, but also provided humorous anecdotes and poetic expressions.

Eighteen members of the audience competed that evening—including 6 of which who are consistent participants and ambassadors for both “Word is Born’ and Furious Flower. After three rounds of intense and enlightening poetic expressions, the top four poets were chosen to move on and represent JMU in the 2009 Region V Poetry Slam Competitions. The 2009 qualifying poets were: Brittany Brooks, Ivaco Clarke, Christine Hulse, and Kunal Jhanjee.

Regional Poetry Slam

The Region V Poetry Slam Competition is an event sponsored by the Association of College Unions International. This year, Regionals was hosted by East Carolina State University in Greenville, North Carolina from February 27-March 1. Region V consists of institutions of higher education from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In the previous year, it was standard to have ten to twelve competing poets perform; however, perhaps due to increased publicity and funds allocated, sixteen poets competed in this year’s Regional Slam. That Friday, competitors gathered for brief introductions and reviews of the weekend. Saturday morning, slam coordinators- James Contratto and Shari Scofield- facilitated a writing workshop activity and meditative exercise before the event began.

All poets performed during Rounds One and Two. The top eight poets then competed in the Final Round. Out of the eight chosen, three were representatives from James Madison University—Brittany Brooks, Ivaco Clarke and Kunal Jhanjee. Five competitors were then chosen to represent Region V—four poets and an alternate poet. Brittany Brooks and Ivaco Clarke [as alternate poet and regional coach] of JMU, Monique Miller [ECU], Johnnie Martinez [ECU], and Calvin Smith [UTenn] would move on to represent Region V at the National Poetry Slam.

National Poetry Slam

The 2009 College Unions [National] Poetry Slam Invitational was hosted by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, March 12^th-14^th. As with Regional Competitions, there was an increased number of competitors this year. Unlike twenty-five competing teams, thirty-four institutions were represented this year, from California to New Jersey.

After the welcome, introductions and a light reception, competitions had begun. During the first bout on day one, Region V competed against Hendrix College, Suffolk County Community College and SUNY College at Geneseo- placing 1^st. On day two, Region V competed against Michigan Technological University, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and University of California-Berkeley in the second bout- placing 2^nd; thus making them eligible to move on to Semi-Finals—a task not accomplished by the region since 2007. Semis were hosted by spoken word artists, TJ Natole and Bamboo. Bout 1 of the Semi-Final Round included Region V, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Minnesota, University of California-Berkeley, and Brandeis University. With a total score of 110.2 however, Region V was not eligible to move on to the Final Bout.

The Final Bout of the event was hosted by poet, author and DEF Poetry Jam artist, Big Papa E. The competing teams were University of Pennsylvania, University of California-Berkeley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Emerson College. The winning team for the 2009 CUPSI Tournament was University of Pennsylvania. All in all, as recorded by Ivaco, “This was perhaps the most enlightening encounter I’ve ever had with poetry…The other participants had an extremely profound impact on my experiences as well. I look forward to keeping them [the poets] in close contact and watching friendships develop and grow.” Members of the 2009 CUPSI Tournament are now in the process of planning an opportunity to reunite and continue to foster their relationships.

Special Thanks to:

Furious Flower Poetry Center

JMU University Student Programming Union