WMRLS Grand Finale Poetry Slam Results

As a result of last winter's WMRLS Poetry Slam Information Roundtables conducted by librarian Adam Novitt, nine participating libraries conducted very successful Poetry Slams and 22 of the winning library poets came together on Sunday, May 25 at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art to compete in the WMRLS Grand Finale. Including our guest poets, we had over 75 people attend this inspiring event.

All 22 poets competed in the first round; the top ten winners of the first round competed in round two; and the top five winners of the second round competed in round three. The final tally of first, second, and third place winners are as follows:

First Place: Jacob Snow representing the North Adams Public Library
Second Place: Shariff Butler representing the Springfield City Library
Third Place: Seth Brown representing the North Adams Public Library

Thank you to:

• The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for hosting this wonderful event
• Poet librarian, Vanessa Vargas for serving as our Poetry Slam emcee
• To each and every guest poet for sharing and performing their unique and thought-provoking poetry
• To our enthusiastic audience for encouraging and supporting our guest poets
• And to the following "Poet Slam" libraries: Forbes Library (Northampton), Milne Library (Williamstown), Monterey Library, North Adams Public Library, Springfield City Library, Stockbridge Library Association, West Stockbridge Public Library, Wheeler Memorial Library (Orange), and Worthington Library.

~ Janet Eckert, WMRLS

Poet Slam at the Springfield City Library

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Shariff's winning performances - first, second, and third rounds. Poetry slam held at the Springfield City Library (Mass.) on April 12, 2008

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Springfield City Library - Poetry Slam on YouTube

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"Daisy's performances from the April 12th slam held at the Springfield, Mass. City Library Poetry Slam"

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Springfield City Library Poetry Slam Winners on YouTube

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"Maurice performs at the April 12, 2008 Poetry Slam at the Springfield (MA) City Library."

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WMRLS Grand Finale Poetry Slam

WMRLS Poetry Slam Grand Finale
Sunday, May 25 from 2:30 to 4:30
at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Featuring poets from the following WMRLS Member Libraries:

Milne Library, Williamstown * Monterey Library * North Adams Public Library * Springfield City Library * Stockbridge Library Association * West Stockbridge Public Library * Wheeler Memorial Library , Orange * Worthington Library * Forbes Library, Northampton

Our Grand Finale will take place in the Auditorium of the Eric Carle Museum. Admission to the auditorium, the museum shop, and the museum café is free. Our audience will be provided with special red stickers for free admission to the store and café (if you would like to purchase items and/or refreshments). There is a fee for museum admission if audience members would like to arrive early and tour the museum.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art now has our event featured on their online calendar of events at: http://www.picturebookart.org/Programs_Events/Upcoming/#E508

Support our Library Poets! Join us at our WMRLS Grand Finale Poet Slam on May 25.

Monterey Library Poetry Slam

We had 41 people attending Monterey's first poetry slam, and 13 poets. The poets ranged from ages 11 and up, and one of the 11 year olds was one of the top five! Vanessa Vargas' emceeing kept everyone's enthusiasm at a high pitch for almost two and a half hours. In a very close finish JoAnna Spies came in first, Kit Patten second, and Kent Godfrey took third. All are planning on attending the next round at the Eric Carle Museum. Some of our poets are already writing for the next WMRLS Slam, which can't come soon enough!

Wheeler Memorial Library's POETRY SLAM a Big Success!

We had a lot of fun at our recent Library Poetry Slam -- it was a big success at the Wheeler Library in Orange.

• First Prize - Maureen Terence Moore of Shelburne Falls

Second Prize - Candace R. Curran of Orange

Third Prize - Robert Collen of Orange

I came in 2nd with a library poem performance titled Lamenting Your Loan. You might enjoy this...

If you had called to renew...tried
librarian's helper, reader's advisory,
conjured keyword or
asked the desk jockey for some assistance...

If you had talked to me maybe...

I would have organized a search, researched
the bottom of the drop box,
found it? deja vu displaced and steeled in stacks...
perhaps it's resting, that's all,
languid between the bed and the wall...

If you do find it,
heart, a bookmark, seems to be
caught somewhere inside it

I have and inkling
we could have kept it circulating -
rewritten in epic tantric, a shower-song and/or
refrigerator poetry to be or not to be summarized,
virtually cataloged and in rave reviewed
pillow-talk book talks...immortalized!...

with a seguel, a trilogy perhaps, but certainly not this
eulogy to a default - lost and paid!
Oh - think of the words we could have made
if you... had only called...to renew.

Candace Curran 2008
delivered with much theatrics of course

North Adams Poetry Slam a BIG HIT!

The North Adams Public Library’s first Poetry Slam was well received and a delightful event for the poets as well as the spectators. The winners of the Poetry Slam are:

First - Jacob Snow -- “Understanding Time”
Second – Cairo Voltaire – Annemic Dissipatent
Third – Seth Brown – Quarterstaff
Fourth – Casey Finnegan —Car Crash
Fifth – Void Sans Ange –Sleeping or blinking?
Sixth –Christian Phiffer -- Spit
Charlene Fiske – Visability

The first three place winners are invited to compete in the GRAND SLAM FINALE to be held on May 25 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Prizes were awarded and donated by The Berkshire Bank and Legacy Banks, Angelina’s Subs, Wal Mart, Stop & Shop, Big Y and Quadlands.

~ Marcia Gross, Director, North Adams Public Library

Springfield Slammers rock!

We had over 60 people at our slam - about 20 people competed and we have 3 very hot poets who will hopefully all make it to the "Grand Slam" on May 25th. Local businesses were happy to donate prizes, so we had gift certificates for UNO's, Frigo's, L.A. Fitness (opening soon next to the Basketball Hall of Fame), etc... in addition to the $100 certificate from the BookLoft folks in Great Barrington (they donated $100 to every slam.... to be used to help defray the cost of self- publishing a chapbook). We are also in the process of contacting the winners of our 2008 Poetry Contest - they will all be invited to read at our awards ceremony on April 26th, and the top winners will be displayed in a storefront on Main Street (this will be part of a larger storefront art project being sponsored by the Springfield Cultural Council). We'll also post all the winning poems to the SCL website shortly after the awards ceremony.

~ Anna Brandenburg, Program Coordinator, Springfield City Library, abrandenburg@springfieldlibrary.org

Worthington Library Poetry Slam a BIG HIT!

"And the winner is---


Congratulations to the winners of Worthington Library's Poetry Slam! First place went to Kate Ewald, second to Vati Srieberg, third to Mary Wheelan and fourth to Darrell Moore! A fantastic collection of poetry was heard and a fun evening was had by all. We'll all be rooting for Kate as she goes on to the Regional Slam to be held at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst on May 25 between 3 and 5 pm. "

Upcoming Western Massachusetts Library Poetry Slams

This poster includes locations, dates, and times.

The above information is taken directly for the April 12 posting on the Worthington Library Blog

West Stockbridge Poetry Slam a BIG HIT!

The West Stockbridge Public Library hosted it's first Poety Slam on March 13th! The emcee, Vanessa Vargas, was wonderful and really had everyone participating. There were three winners who are all eligible to go on to the Regional Competition in May. Hilary Russell, from Sheffield, came in first place, Karel Fisher, from Richmond, was second, and the super brave local youngster, Juri Kiin of West Stockbridge, stole third. Prizes were donated by Hotchkiss Mobiles, Molly Bruce Jacobs, Hoffman Pottery, West Stockbridge Video, and the Bookloft. The West Stockbridge Public Library Friends of the Library and Cultural Council also helped sponsored the event. A big THANKS to everyone that helped pull this together!

~ AJ Cole, West Stockbridge Library Director

READ MORE ABOUT IT ~ Western Massachusetts Poetry Slam Series!

Western Massachusetts Poetry Slam Series

This spring, the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System will sponsor the first ever Western Massachusetts Poetry Slam Championship Series. Poets will compete, live and on stage for:

Fame, Glory and Prizes

Please see the libraries listed below for venues and dates. Visit poetry.wmrls.org for details or ask your librarian for more information.

If you’re not a poet, come and witness the amazing talent lurking just below the surface of your town!. Admission is free.

West Stockbridge Public Library - March 13 - 6:30PM
Worthington Library - April 10 - 7PM
Springfield City Library - April 12 - 1 PM
Stockbridge Library Association - April 22 - 6PM
North Adams Public Library - April 22 - 6PM
Wheeler Memorial Library ,Orange - April 26 - 2PM
Milne Library, Williamstown - April 26 - 1PM
Chicopee Public Library - April 30 -Event is cancelled

Monterey Library - May 10 - 7PM
Forbes Library, Northampton – Event is cancelled

Pelham Library - Event is cancelled

Many thanks to Adam Novitt and Vanessa Vargas for coordinating this event.

Westen MA Poetry Slam Website

Hi,

Now that the holidays are past us I am getting to work on the regional poetry slams. We have the round table coming up Friday (tomorrow!) and another at Pelham next week.

I threw up this quick Google Pages website to give people an idea of what the slam is and as a central place to draw resources from. Within a week or so all the resources should be there. These should not be a lot of work for people and I think they'll be fun and attract a lot of attention!

See the page at http://taxonomy.googlepages.com/home2

Questions? ask me at taxonomy@gmail.com