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Health & Fitness

National Poetry Slam Offers Workshops for Young Poets

When the National Poetry Slam (NPS) comes back to Massachusetts next week, it will encounter enthusiastic crowds in venues across Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. Among those audiences will be many teen poets, who are part of a rapidly expanding movement in the state. To showcase the talents of these young artists and foster the next generation of slam poets, NPS is partnering with the Mass Literary Education and Performance (LEAP) Collective and the city of Cambridge to offer writing and performance workshops and slam showcases for middle and high school students.

The free events, which are open to participants ages 19 and under, will run from Thursday, August 15 through Friday, August 16 at the Area IV Youth Center near Central Square. The sessions will be led by some of the nation’s most talented poets and performers, who beat out scores of other artists for the chance to compete on NPS stages.

“Anyone who's seen youth poets knows that they're not just the future, they're very much the now of what's happening,” said Alex Charalambides, executive director of MassLEAP Collective and co-coordinator of the Louder than a Bomb Youth Poetry Festival. “Spoken word and performance poetry illuminate an essential personal space for young people to re-shape their own narratives. More often than not, it's the young people who teach us that slam is about more than competition."  

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The NPS/MassLEAP workshops will include:

Thursday Afternoon Writing Workshops
1 p.m. - 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 15
Youth poets are invited to join two fabulous workshoppers in town for the National Poetry Slam for an afternoon writing event. Bring your favorite writing equipment. No experience required.
Choose session I led by Joanna Hoffman or session II led by Rachel Wiley.

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Thursday Afternoon Showcase Slam
4 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 15
This will be a gala performance featuring up to a dozen poets from the National Poetry Slam. Come see some of the finest performers in the country slam off with their best radio-friendly work.
Hosted by Alex Charalambides and Cole Rodriguez.

Friday Afternoon Performance Workshops
1 p.m. -3 p.m. on Friday, August 16
Performers and teachers from all over the country are converging on NPS, and two of them will be available to offer performance tips and tricks. Bring a poem to perform, memorized if you can.
Choose session I led by John Survivor Blake or session II led by Theresa Davis.

Friday Afternoon Youth Slam
4 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Friday, August 16
This event is hosted by Alex Charalambides, director of Boston’s Louder Than a Bomb series. Spectators can expect explosive youth poetry. Sign-ups are open to the first youth poets to arrive. 

Additional resources:

National Poetry Slam on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NationalPoetrySlam

National Poetry Slam tickets: http://nationalpoetryslam.com/tickets/

National Poetry Slam blog: http://nationalpoetryslam.com/blog/nps-2013-blog/

 

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