- 05/11/13 11:08 PM
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After three intense rounds of poetry, your 2013 Lake Effect Poetry slam team will be: Christine Howey, Caira Lee, Arianna Cheree, and your 2013 Grand Slam Champion AKeemjamal Rollins! In the event one of these poets has to leave the team, our alternate is Redd.
The slam was broadcast on Ustream, and is available for repeat-viewing at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lake-effect-poetry
A huge THANK YOU goes to Jessica Skrzypiec and the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, and to everyone who attended the slam! $210 was collected at the door, which was evenly split between Lake Effect and the AIDS Taskforce.
Watch out, Boston! Lake Effect Poetry is storming your way!!!
By Vertigo Xavier
Tagged: 2013, FINAL, akeem, akeemjamal, arianna, caira, cheree, christine, cleveland, final, finals, howey, jamal, lee, nps, poet, poetry, redd, rollins, slam, taskforce, aids
- 04/29/13 02:29 PM
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The Lake Effect Poetry 2013 GRAND SLAM, the final competition to see who will comprise our National Poetry Slam team this year, will be held on Saturday, May 11th at 7:00 PM.
The finalists who will be competing in the grand slam are:
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AKeemjamal Rollins
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Redd
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Eris Zion Venia
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Caira Lee
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Azriel Johnson
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Skylark Bruce
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Arianna Cheree
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FREE
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Christine Howey
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Joshua Gage
There will be a $5 entry fee at the door to attend the Grand Slam. In honor of KEEP the PROMISE, half of the funds collected at the door will go to the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland.
By Vertigo Xavier
Tagged: 2013, grand, slam, final, finals, akeemjamal, akeem, rollins, redd, eris, zion, venia, caira, lee, azriel, johnson, skylark, bruce, arianna, cheree, free, christine, howey, joshua, gage, aids, taskforce, keep, promise
- 04/13/13 01:19 AM
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The Lake Effect Poetry Last Chance Slam came down to a short but sweet battle between Kathleen Gallagher and Joshua Gage, with Josh claiming the crown and taking the final spot on the roster for May 11th's GRAND SLAM!
- 04/11/13 02:47 AM
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The previous announcement, that the LAST CHANCE SLAM would qualify two poets for the GRAND SLAM, has been retracted. One of our qualified finalists contacted me after making the hard decision to step out of the competition this year due to having recently started a new day-job. As such, we again have an odd number of finalists competing at the Grand Slam, so only one poet will win a spot at finals through the Last Chance Slam.
- 04/07/13 01:11 AM
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Last night's final Lake Effect NPS qualifier was another splendid show! Christine Howey won the slam (her first time competing in one!), with AKeem and Eris taking second and third and Skylark, Azriel, and Arianna Cheree also competing.
The final point tallys have now been posted after the completion of all qualification slams. AKeemjamall Rollins, Redd, Eris Zion Venia, Caira Lee, T.M. Göttl, Azriel Johnson, Skylark Bruce, Arianna Cheree, FREE, and Christine Howey have qualified for the Lake Effect GRAND SLAM on May 11th. I will be sending each of these poets a message to confirm that they will be competing (one of the above named poets has already indicated that she most likely will have to decline due to day-job commitments). One more poet will be added to the list, as well (keep reading). Once all poets competing at the Grand Slam are confirmed, I will post the final competitor list.
If you didn't earn enough points to qualify for finals, you've still got one more shot. Lake Effect Poetry will be having a LAST CHANCE SLAM this coming Friday at the Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour! The winner of the LAST CHANCE SLAM will be the final poet added to the list of competitors for the Grand Slam. This will take place at MugShotz Coffee in North Royalton at 8:00 PM.
By Vertigo Xavier
Tagged: 2013, grand, slam, finals, akeem, akeemjamal, rollins, skylark, bruce, caira, lee, christine, howey, tm, gottl, eris, zion, venia, azriel, johnson, redd, arianna, cheree, theresa, free, last, chance, slam
- 04/05/13 10:40 PM
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Tonight's Lake Effect qualifier at the First Friday Poetry Spectacular was one of the most exciting slams we've had yet! Eris Zion Venia ended up taking the win, with AKeemjamal Rollins and Skylark Bruce capturing second and third, but it was a close competition with phenomenal performances from Phoenix Clouden, Joshua Gage, Azriel Johnson, Andi Line, and a poet using the nom de plume Deacon Turner. If you missed the show, you can see the recording at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lake-effect-poetry
Details for a LAST CHANCE SLAM came together live on the air during tonight's broadcast. The LAST CHANCE SLAM will take place next Friday, April 12th at the Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour featuring Thom Dawkins at MugShotz Cafe in North Royalton! This show starts at 8:00 and rarely has any "poetry standard time" delay. ;-)
The FINAL Lake Effect NPS team qualifier will be tomorrow evening at the Literary Cafe in Cleveland (Tremont), as part of the 7:00 PM Writing Knights show featuring John Burroughs and music by Zach.
By Vertigo Xavier
Tagged: venia, zion, eris, akeemjamal, rollins, skylark, bruce, akeem, qualifers, qualifier, points, last, FINAL, first, friday, spectacular, poetry, last, chance, slam
- 04/04/13 11:52 PM
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Since learning that Playhouse Square put the SlamU program on hiatus this year, we have been fielding questions about 18 and 19 year old poets being eligible for the Lake Effect NPS team. It has been announced that NPS 2013 in Boston/Cambridge will be 18+ rather than the normal 21+ for PSI events. This means that so long as you are 18 years of age or older by Tuesday, August 13, 2013, you are eligible to compete for a spot on this year's Lake Effect Poetry team.
The final two qualifiers are this weekend. The First Friday Poetry Spectacular will be held tonight at Karma Cafe in Canton and will include the first of our final two qualifiers. Then the absolute FINAL qualifier will be held on Saturday at the Writing Knights event at the Literary Cafe in Cleveland (Tremont).
A "Last Chance Slam" may still be added to the schedule (possibly May 3rd's First Friday Poetry Spectacular in Canton), but this has not yet been confirmed.
- 03/22/13 08:12 PM
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The points have been updated with the results of tonight's qualifier at the Root Cafe in Lakewood. Eris Zion Venia, fresh from her 7th place finish at WOWPS, captured tonight's crown, with Caira Lee and Phoenix Andre Clouden taking second and third.
April 5th's First Friday Poetry Spectacular at Karma Cafe in Canton will be the next LEP NPS team qualifier.
April 6th's Writing Knights Presents at the Literary Cafe in Tremont (Cleveland) will be the FINAL LEP NPS team qualifier.
Details of our team finals will be posted soon.
- 03/09/13 10:44 PM
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Eris Zion Venia has finished 7th at tonight's Women of the World Poetry Slam Finals!
In the first round, she performed "Poet's Kid" and scored 26.5. In the second round she performed "Stock Market," scoring 26.2.
Congratulations to Eris for the best finish a Cleveland poet has had at a PSI event since 1998. :-)
- 03/08/13 11:33 AM
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Eris went in to the two-minute round of her second prelim bout at Women of the World Poetry Slam tonight with "Yeast," scoring a 28.7 and taking first place in the round. That meant she had to go first in the three-minute round, where she performed "Nia" and scored a 28.5, the fifth highest score of that round.
(The way ranking works at individual PSI events is, you get the number of points for your place in each round, and the top poets are those with the lowest number of ranking points.)
Her rank score of 6 tonight combined with her 9 from last night gives her a total of 15, putting her in 12th place overall. THAT MEANS ERIS HAS QUALIFIED FOR FINAL STAGE AT WOMEN OF THE WORLD POETRY SLAM!!!
This will be the first time a Cleveland poet has made final stage at a PSI event in five years. The last time was when Christena B. finished 8th at WOWPS in 2008. :-)
