Poetry Slam at the African American Atelier features 3 nationally-ranked local teams

Three nationally ranked Poetry Slam teams from the Triad area will be competing at the African American Atelier in Greensboro on May 27, 2015. As the name suggests, the Atelier is an art gallery that provides rotational exhibitions, gallery talks and artist forums. Local, regional, national and international professional and emerging artists are showcased through group and solo exhibitions each year.

There will be a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the slam at 7 p.m. Attendees will also get a sneak peak at a new gallery exhibit.

The teams competing in the slam are Slam Charlotte team, The Bull City Slam Team, and The Marquis Slam team – all of whom will be
representing North Carolina in a coming regional competition.

A poetry slam is a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience who have been selected by the host. The judges are instructed to give numerical scores (on a scale of zero to ten) based on content and performance.

The 2015 Slam Charlotte team.

The Slam Charlotte team won the 2007 and 2008 National Championship. It was founded in 2003 at the African-American Cultural Center by Terry Creech and subsequently established a partnership with the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Education Institute. Slam Charlotte team member Ed Mabrey was ranked best in the world at the 2007, 2012 and 2013 (tie) Individual World Poetry Slams. Slam Charlotte team’s current slammaster Bluz, a/k/a Boris Rogers, was ranked 13th in the world at the 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam in Vancouver.

The 2015 Bull City Slam Team.

The Bull City Slam Team won the 2014 Southern Fried Southeastern Regional Poetry Slam Championship. They meet monthly at the Hayti Center in Durham.

The 2015 Marquis Slam team.

The Marquis Slam team is hosted by Enfinite Entertainment every first Saturday at the Marquis Market in Fayetteville. Kisha, a member of the Slam, is trying to raise money on GoFundMe to attend her first Southern Fried Poetry Slam.

For more information, contact the African-American Atelier.

phone (336) 333-6885
website africanamericanatelier.org