• Do you know students with an interest in poetry, hip hop, or spoken word performance?
• Do you know students who can commit to a semester-long opportunity with a Bates student and talented helpers?

...Well Then

Perform Your Mind, a semester-long (Jan 30 - Apr 2), weekly workshop for high school writers, spoken word artists, poets, & hip hop artists, will take place at various Lewiston & Auburn locations throughout the spring. Bates College senior James Watkins will teach the workshops, with assistance from other local talents.

Start It Off, Follow It Up

The workshop will begin with a kick-off event on Thursday, January 12^th at the Lewiston Public Library. Marc Bamuthi Joseph, National Poetry Slam champion (named one of the nation's Top Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences by Smithsonian Magazine), will perform. Participants in the workshop will get the opportunity to take a class with Bamuthi when he returns for a one-week residency at Bates College in April. Check the Events tab for more events.

Credit Anyone?

Although participation in the program is voluntary, we know that academic credit would be an added incentive for students to commit to the workshop. Please consider this possibility, if it fits within your academic program. We are happy to discuss this possibility with you further.

Thanks for Your Support

This workshop is being offered with the support of many people, including the Bates Dance Festival, the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates, the Lewiston and Auburn Public Libraries, and L/A Arts.

Contacts

Bates student James Watkins will be supervised by Professor Rob Farnsworth in the Department of English at Bates. Added support will come from Sarah Vazquez, VISTA volunteer at the Harward Center. For more information, please call Georgia Nigro at the Harward Center (786-6183) or email Jake Paris (Lewiston Public Library) or Sally Holt (Auburn Public Library)

Sign Up

Participation in the semester-long workshop will be on a first come-first served basis. To secure a spot, use the form available on the signup page. If spaces are still available, there will also be an opportunity to sign up at the kick-off event in January.

Download this information sheet.

Spoken Word @ Your Library

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  SlamNation (dvd)

  Before Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam, Slamnation captured the cutthroat world of spoken-word poetry. The film follows Saul Williams and three other top poets as they make their way to the National Poetry Slam, the Super Bowl of poetry.

• 

  Word warriors : 35 women leaders in the spoken word revolution

  Female spoken word artists have become the spokeswomen for a new generation. This demanding oral poetry of the early 21st century has defined a vanguard of lithely muscled voices; women who think and act decisively to create their distinctive and desperately earned realities. The combination of the eminent slam movement and the upsurge of bold underground feminism has created a unique pool of women who verbally challenge society on all fronts.

• 

  Take the mic : the art of performance poetry, slam, and the spoken word

  What you think you know may not be slam -- Getting into the spirit of slam -- Slam competition : rules, regulations, and other formalities -- Penning the powerful slam poem -- Confronting stage fright : overcoming the fear -- Slammin' fundamentals ...more

• 

  Russell Simmons def poetry jam on Broadway

  includes Beau Sia -- Black Ice -- Georgia me -- Lemon -- Mayda del Valle -- Poetri -- Staceyann Chin -- Steve Colman -- Suheir Hammad -- DJ Tendaji

• 

  Bum rush the page : a Def Poetry Jam

  "Here is a democratic orchestration of voices and visions, poets of all ages, ethnicities, and geographic locations coming together to create a dialogue and to jam–not slam. This is our mouth on paper, our hearts on our sleeves, our refusal to shut up and swallow our silence. These poems are tough, honest, astute, perceptive, lyrical, blunt, sad, funny, heartbreaking, and true. They shout, they curse, they whisper, and sing. But most of all, they tell it like it is."
  -Tony Medina, from the Introduction

• 

  The poetry lounge (dvd)

  An audio-visual guide for learning to write poetry. A multicultural, open-forum for self-expression, inspiring young people to find their own voice and lite it be heard. Hosted by award-winning Def Poets Shihan and Poetri, the "lounge" was one of the inspirations for Russell Simmons' 2003 show Def Poetry Jam. This program features 2004 National Slam Champions.

• 

  The spoken word revolution : slam, hip-hop & the poetry of a new generation

  The Spoken Word Revolution brings to life the written and performed works of more than 40 of the most influential slam, hip hop, performance art and contemporary poets in the world today. This defining collection of spoken word poetry captures today’s electrifying words and voices, in text and immediately live on one audio CD.

• 

  The spoken word revolution redux (+cd)

  In the tradition of The Spoken Word Revolution, Redux brings more of the gripping, moving, innovative, often hilarious poetry in the oral tradition. This redefining collection gathers multiple forms of "spoken word" under the same motley tent-slam, hip-hop, musical interpretations, and youth movements among them. The resulting brew is both satisfying and world-expanding. One audio CD features some of the best poems and poets, immediately live in their own electrifying words and voices.

• 

  The cultural politics of slam poetry : race, identity, and the performance of popular verse in America

  Introduction: slam and the search for poetry's great audience -- On page and stage: slam poetry as a genre -- Poetry and the people: the cultural tensions of American popular verse in performance -- I sing the body authentic: slam poetry and the cultural politics of performing identity -- "Commercial niggas like me": spoken word poetry, hip-hop, and the racial politics of going mainstream -- Epilogue: "designs for living" - notes on the future of slam poetry.

Happening Here this Spring

All Events are FREE and open to the public.

Meet two time National Poetry Slam winner Bamuthi

Thursday, Jan 12^th -- 3:30pm

@ Lewiston Public Library
Bamuthi will talk about his work, and maybe offer a short excerpt from one of his pieces. Participants might get to take part in a creative word exercise .

Maine Poetry Slam

Tuesday, Jan 17^th -- 3pm

@ Auburn Public Library. A group of amazing local spoken word artists will perform. Performer list coming soon!

Maine Poetry Slam

Friday, Jan 20^th -- 5pm

@ Lewiston Public Library. A group of amazing local spoken word artists will perform. Performer list coming soon!

Youth Workshops

Mondays, Jan 30^th - April 2^nd    •    5 - 6:30pm

A semester-long, weekly workshop for high school writers, spoken word artists, poets, & hip hop artists. @ Lewiston Public Library

...more coming...