Albuquerque Slam Poet Laureate Program Offers Historic Title

March 18, 2009 - PRLog -- In 1341 the Roman poet Petrarch took the title Poet Laureate for his poem “Africa”. Almost three hundred years later, King James I recreated the title in its current incarnation for friend and poet Ben Jonson. This year, the Albuquerque based program aims to create a second title for poets by recognizing the impact of spoken word on modern poetics. Acknowledging the fact that slam poetry has significantly reinforced the role of poets as story-tellers and historians in modern society, this program will combine that aesthetic with the traditional role of spokesperson that the laureate title carries.  
   Two of the most significant aspects of this program are the fact that a potential laureate is now asked to prove themselves by reaching their audience and the fact that the people will get to pick their own laureate for the first time in history.
   “This program creates a unique opportunity for the people who will be represented by this laureate to ask them for something, a demonstration that their words and feelings match those of the audience enough to be representative…to be a spokesperson for those values,” says Kluckman.
   The newly crowned laureate will serve a one year term as liason between the city and the people. This one year reign has one limitation, the laureate may only serve once. The organizers have crafted this program to create new opportunities for literary artists in the community who are often overlooked by the traditional limitations of laureate appointments, so they have created this limit to encourage poets to make their year count artistically and in terms of service. However, this will not be an easy win either.
    The competitors will battle through two preliminary bouts of three to four rounds in May, including haiku, free verse, form poetry and more. The winner will be determined by audience votes and a combined jury of established poets and audience members will determine the final outcome. The events culminate on June 13, 2009 at the historic Kimo Theater with ten of the state’s best poets attempting to win a professionally recorded CD by a Grammy winning local sound engineer, the coveted “iced dog-tags” and the honor of being recognized as the first Slam Poet Laureate in the world.
    “As much as we want to allow the open performance dynamics of slam, we also want the winner to be a poet first…someone who loves their craft and brings a passion to it,’ states Kluckman.
    The program also includes musical guests, including Melissa Christopher of Santa Fe and local favorite Fast Heart Mart. Preliminary bouts are scheduled for May 20th and 29, with the final event occurring on June 13th at the Kimo downtown. All three nights of competition are open to the public and tickets are available through Ticketmaster and the venue box offices. For details, please visit the website at http://abqspl.wildapricot.org or e-mail Executive Director Zachary Kluckman at slampoet@fastmail.fm for more information.

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NM Poetry Tangents is a cooperative effort by members of the Albuquerque arts community to organize events, promote and develop literacy and advocacy efforts through poetics, and facilitate workshops for the youth and schools of the community.