POETRY : Ozark Slam Team headed to national competition
Posted on Sunday, July 27, 2008
“ Write things you normally wouldn’t, and challenge yourself. ”
— Michelle Miesse Please join us to experience the collage of voices from the Ozark Slam Team, who will perform for Ozark Poets and Writers Collective at 7: 30 p. m. Tuesday at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville. The team will be warming up before competing at the National Poetry Slam in Madison, Wis., at the beginning of August.
The team’s captain, Scott Crain, is a returning feature who is no stranger to electrifying the stage with his performances. The pain and struggles of friends and family inspires Crain, as does the kind of introspection that is often confusing or contradictory and that is clarified by being put to paper. He will have his two chapbooks for sale, “ Punchlines” and “ Where Masks Fall Away. ”
Michelle Miesse, new to the slam team, is a University of Arkansas senior majoring in English / creative writing. Miesse originally hails from Marion, Kan., and her first memory of writing is an illustrated book for a second- or third-grade class called “ The Adventurous Cat. ” At the UA, she works at Mullins Library, is the University Programs Coffeehouse chairman — bringing acoustic artists and slam poets to the university — and a copy editor for The Arkansas Traveler.
Jeremy Sparkman is inspired by the connection that all people share and he likes to highlight those threads that keep us together as humans. He has been slamming for two years, representing the University Slam Team at regional events. This is his second year to represent Arkansas at the national competition. Sparkman is also a senior at the UA, majoring in English / creative writing. He is recording his first CD and has a chapbook titled “ Dirt Roads. ”
Mike Stuckey is a youth pastor in Siloam Springs. He is a relative newcomer to the slam experience but has written poetry for many years. He has a small chapbook titled “ Vertigo Love. ”
Inspired by life, the alternate member of the slam team is local attorney and perennial slam favorite Harry McDermott. He has been writing short stories and poetry since high school and has been published in the Fayetteville Free Weekly, the Little Rock Free Press and Ride magazine.
McDermott is a Little Rock native, a UA graduate and has a wide variety of interests. He has played drums in punk, blues and country and western bands, participated in plays and had his art displayed in several locations. He also produced a short film, which was shown at the Fayetteville Film Festival, the Fayetteville Underground Film Festival and the Little Rock Film Festival. He currently participates in Ozark Poetry Slam events, writes poetry and is a rapacious reader.
Slam team members listed a wide variety of favorite poets from Eliot, Cummings, Langston Hughes and Billy Collins to performance poets Buddy Wakefield, Regan Fox, J. W. Baz, Anis Mojgani and local favorite Doug Shields.
The team has an 11-track CD containing poems from each of the four members, as well as a chapbook composed of their poetry. At the OPWC feature, they will present not only their individual poems, but team pieces as well.
Join OPWC for the performance poetry of the Ozark Slam Team. Open mic performances run up to four minutes for original work or a “ cover. ” Performances are not censored, and strong or racy language is sometimes used. Admission is free, though a hat is passed for the feature. There’s also a free raffle for a book from the UA Press and a Nightbird Books gift card. For more information, visit www. uark. edu / ua / mmasull / opwc.
Cat is a nontraditional undergraduate student in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Arkansas, and lives in Durham with her husband, two sons, two Say It I want you to say, That I’m not just beautiful But that I Am the breeze That lifts leaves from the trees, That smell like Autumn And taste like you believe we won’t fall. That my eyes are the light that lead you Into the crevices of my curves So we fit as perfectly As books lining library shelves.
— Michelle Miesse True Beauty Exudes Her beauty is white water rapids crashing down on boulders spraying split second rainbows at the Colorado sun. Her beauty is that fall you never meant to take. Like Niagara’s roaring herds of liquid lemmings her beauty isn’t afraid of jumping …
— Jeremy Sparkman When You Finally Wake Up and Realize You Are In the Night of the Living Dead ! I’m going to stand underneath the next full moon like it was a motorcycle coming straight at me, being driven by an angel looking sassy in leather and jack boots. Going to stick out my thumb like I am the type of person who can ride out the rest of their existence past dead churches, banks, doomed children, and other icons of the living dead.
— Harry McDermott
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