Poetry slam finals this Friday
Spoken word artist Nikki Germany will return as a finalist to defend her title and compete for one of four spots on the team representing Buffalo in the national competition this summer in the Nickel City Poetry Slam finals at 7 p.m. Friday in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's Clifton Hall.
The other seven finalists, all determined by monthly slams leading up to this competition, are Jennifer Elinge, Marina Blitshteyn, Lazyrus, MC Vendetta (aka Jana Willoughby), 10,000, Sonchild and Lovely. Hosting the event once again this year will Gabrielle Boulaine, a Buffalo native, veteran of the poetry slam circuit and the founder of the Nickel City Poetry Slam competition at the Albright.
As in previous years, the program will open with a performance by an artist of national stature on the poetry slam scene. This year's guest performer is Carlos Andrés Gómez, a multi-time national finalist and former U.S. champion. Gómez has stepped from the slam circuit into a full-time career, performing at universities and colleges nationwide, creating one-man theatrical productions, and making feature appearances on both television productions ("Def Poetry Jam") and film (Spike Lee’s "Inside Man"). (See Friday's Gusto for an interview with Gómez.)
The top four scoring artists (as determined by randomly chosen judges from the audience) will earn slots on the Buffalo team, which will compete with teams representing 80 cities in the 22nd Annual National Poetry Slam, which will be held in Madison, Wis., from Aug. 3-9.
Admission to Friday's event is $12, with proceeds from the door as well as from merchandise and beverages purchased at the event going to help fund the Buffalo team's trip to Madison.
If you've never been to a poetry slam at this level of competition before, you might be surprised by the degree of artistry involved. The sheer velocity of language at last year's competition was intoxicating; enough to make one think that if linguistic fallout were measurable, the Surgeon General might have issued a warning.
-- R.D. Pohl
