ABQ GRAND SLAM 2010 poetry slam championship

The top 10 performance poets in the 505 battle for the coveted Albuquerque City Championship as well as a spot on the 2010 ABQ National Poetry Slam team at the 2010 ABQ GRAND SLAM on SATURDAY, APRIL 3 at the OUTPOST PERFORMANCE SPACE.

Among those who may be in the running are Jessica Lopez, 2009 ABQ City team member Christian Drake, Emily Landis, Zack Kluckman, 2009 ABQ slam champ Damien Flores, Faustino Villa, 2009 Youth champ Reed Bobroff, Tracey Dahl, and 2009 Albuquerque Slam Poet Lareaute Danny Solis, former ABQ team members Joe Romero and Hakim Bellamy as well as Sarah Tafoya and Khalid Bunsunni

The slam will be hosted by HBO Def Poet Tim Stafford. Stafford is a Chicago-based poet who is part of the performance poetry duo Death From Below, which was featured on HBO’s Def Poetry show. He is a former Chicago Grand Slam champion and currently curates the Chicago “Mental Graffiti” poetry slam series. He is also the editor of "Learn Then Burn" an all ages anthology set to be released in May 2010 by Write Bloody Publishing.

It'll be a dizzying night of poetry and performance. Tickets are available in advance through the Outpost Box Office. Poets in the ABQ Metro area have been competing and qualifying for the past seven months, accumulating points towards the ABQ Grand Slam, which is being co-produced by ABQSlams and the Outpost.

The top four from the Grand Slam will represent Albuquerque at the international NATIONAL POETRY SLAM poetry slam in St. Paul, Minnesota. in August 2010. The ABQ GRAND SLAM also kicks off fund raising for the ABQ City Team, which is also looking to raise $6,000 to pay for the trip to Minnesota.

For information, call/text Kenn Rodriguez at 505.379.2666 or email info@abqslams.org.
Donations can be made by contacting ABQSlams slammaster Kenn Rodriguez at 505.379.2666 (call or text).