Josh Healey, MCSC member, likes to think that there is a poet inside of everyone.
Healey is one of the main organizers of the “One Mic Ain’t Enough” poetry slam happening Friday, Nov. 19, and Saturday, Nov. 20. Semifinal competition will take place at three separate venues Friday night: 45 total contestants will be divided into groups of 15 each among Café Montmartre (127 E. Mifflin), Genna’s (105 W. Main St) and the Rathskeller in Memorial Union. Contests will begin around 8 p.m. at both Café Montmartre and Genna’s, with things getting underway in the Rathskeller at 9 p.m.
Each venue will host one of three famous poets, who will handle emcee duties for the slams. Bonafide Rojas will be at the Rathskeller, Kevin Coval will handle things at Genna’s and Dasha Kelly will be featured at Café Montmartre. As an added bonus for attendees at both Café Montmartre and the Rathskeller, there will be live music throughout the night with a concert after competition from band Poetree Chicago at the Rathskeller and a live jazz combo at the Café.
Things take a different format Saturday, with the 15 semifinal winners (five from each venue) converging upon the Orpheum at 8 p.m. for the final showdown. After two rounds of competition, the top three slammers will receive cash prizes. Following the slam will be a performance by Black Elephant, a Milwaukee area hip-hop group. Admission to all of the events is completely free to both students and the general public.
For the uninformed reader, poetry slams are an underground movement sweeping across the country. With roots in hip-hop, according to Slam Nation (www.slamnation.com), they were first popularized by Chicago poet Marc Smith in 1986.
Healey describes slam poetry as simply a poet and a microphone. “You’re judged on how well you can perform … [with] no band, no props,” he said.
Many of the organizers, including Healey, were participants in last year’s poetry slam contest.
“A lot of the people planning this thing were competitors last year who couldn’t get enough of it,” said Healey. “Things like this are all about connecting with other poets in the area, putting it in the limelight.”
This year’s contest looks to be much bigger than last year’s, with contestants coming from all over the country.
“We’ve got poets coming from all over the Midwest,” Healey said. “Omaha, Nebraska, Toledo, Ohio … word just gets out there. Of course, cash prizes don’t hurt.”
Along with these voyagers, many UW students have signed up to participate in the event. Of the people already registered, Healey said that over half of them are University students. “It’s a lot of new talent … but I’m sure they’ll put up a good show against the out-of-towners.”
Five members of the audience will be selected at each venue to make up the panel of judges for the slams. Scoring is done by taking all five scores (on a scale from one to ten), throwing out the high and low ones and then adding up the middle three. The poet with the highest score at the end of the night leaves the winner.
“Spoken word really brings together all different types of people … it crosses all barriers,” said Adam Robinson, Student Performance Director and co-organizer of the poetry slam.
Healey echoes Robinson’s sentiments: “You’ll see totally different types of poets. Some will be talking about the birds and the bees while others are just speaking about … growing up on the block. That’s the beauty, you see the reality of people’s lives …they make that reality sound good.”
Maggie Schorr, a member of the Student Performance Committee, recalled a time that Saul Williams came to her high school to read poetry.
“We had a bunch of older people come in to see him; it really brought together a variety of groups,” she said. Having experienced an event like that, she is “definitely excited for the slam.”
Aspiring poets will also be treated to writing workshops with the featured poets from both nights. All three of them will be holding workshops from 2-6 p.m. Saturday in the MSC Satellite (Gordon Commons, corner of Lake and Johnson streets). Workshops are free and open to anyone interested.
A multitude of organizations are helping to sponsor the events, including the MultiCultural Student Coalition (MCSC), Offices of the Dean of Students, the Multicultural Council (MCC) and the Wisconsin Union Directorate Student Performance and Music Committees. Additional assistance was provided by Lauren Woods, president of the Wisconsin Black Student Union.
