BUSBOYS AND POETS & @BeltwaySlamDC Present: the BELTWAY POETRY SLAM

Name: BUSBOYS AND POETS & @BeltwaySlamDC Present: the BELTWAY POETRY SLAM
Start: 2015-02-24T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2015-02-24T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Brookland

Date and Time

Feb 24, 2015 7:00 pm

Location

Brookland

625 Monroe St NE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20017

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Description:

Busboys and Poets Presents the Beltway Slam: Hosted by Pages Matam, Featuring Rasheed Copeland and sounds by DJ Phenomajon

Pages Matam

As a spoken word artist from the DC metropolitan area, the same versatility upon grabbing a mic to take his audience on a journey in his pen, is also embodied in his performance. PAGES is a poet and emcee originally from Cameroon, Africa. His features have included The Kennedy Center; colleges and universities such as Columbia University; & BETJ Lyric Café. He has touched stages with the likes of Ainsley Burrows and Oveous Maximus, opened for Raheem DeVaughn & Chrisette Michelle, Afrika Bambaat to name a few. He is also founder and co-president of Da Movement Poetz, a performance based arts group geared towards reaching mainly young adults via the arts. In addition to winning multiple local slams, he is also the 2010 DC Grand Slam Champion, two-time member of the Busboys and Poets DC Slam team (which finished in top 13th in the nation in 2011 National Poetry Slam Competition), and co-hosts GraffitiDC, one of D.C.’s newest ground-breaking premier Slam Series presented by Beny Blaq Ent. Currently, if he is not somewhere rocking a stage, he works as a creative writing teacher and leads workshops throughout various universities, and elementary to high schools.Splendor, Red Poppy Review, Front Porch Review, Wayne Literary Review, The Shout and [sic] issues 16-19 and forthcoming in The Missing Slate, Camroc Press Review. He is a former editor for [sic] literary magazine issue 17 and was one of the editors for “I Have Come Forth By Day: A Woman's Evolution: by Chantay Legacy Leonard published by Moore Black Press. He is a former intern instructor with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute's Pathways to Freedom Summer Learning Program (2009-2010) and The Future Foundation (2012). He is a graduate of the Broadside Press Institute of Cultural Studies (2009) has a B.A. in Elementary Education and is studying a Master's degree of Arts in Liberal Studies with a focus in Creative Writing both at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Featuring:

Rasheed Copeland

Rasheed Copeland is a renowned poet raised in Washington, DC. He has competed on the National Poetry slam level as a member of DC’s 2010 and 2011 Busboys and Poets 11th hour slam team. As 2010 NUSPA (National Underground Spokenword Award) winner for “Best Performance Male” he has featured at various venues along the east coast including the Lincoln Theater, the prominent Busboys and Poet’s as well as the Legendary Spit Dat. He is also a crucial fixture of Graffiti DC which is rising poetry slam in Washington DC. With an affinity for justice, love, God and the city he was raised in, Rasheed uses his smooth style and his tremendous writing ability to draw in listeners.

ALL THOSE PARTICIPATING IN THE SLAM MUST ARRIVE BY 7:30 AND BUY THEIR TICKETS IN PERSON!!

$5 Cover. On the day of the event, tickets can be purchased online here starting at midnight and in the restaurant starting at 10:00 AM (cash only). No refunds. Ticket purchase limit of 4 per person. Tickets will be sold at the door if available. Guests must have their wristbands (tickets) on upon entering the event.

Seating is available on a first come, first seated basis. No saved or reserved seats are allowed. Failure to check in within 30 minutes of advertised start time may result in forfeiture of seats.

Rules and Procedures for 2014-2015 Season

Each open slam will be two rounds. Standard PSI rules apply (3 minutes, own work, no props, etc). The first round will have a maximum of twelve poets and the order will be by random draw. The top eight poets from the first round will move on to the second round and the order will be high to low from the first round. The two poets with the highest cumulative scores will move on to semifinals (see below).

Participation by Lottery:

The list for the night will be held by the Bout Manager. Poets MUST speak with the Bout Manager in person on the night of the slam to be placed on the list. The list will open at 7:30 and close at 7:50 SHARP.

If twelve (12) or fewer poets sign up, those individuals will all compete. If thirteen (13) or more poets sign up, there will be a lottery. The first twelve poets whose names are pulled when the list closes will compete.
If a poet’s name is not pulled during the lottery, they can have their name entered twice in the next slam if a lottery is called for that night as well. This only applies to the very next slam. If the poet cannot make the very next slam, they forfeit the bonus entry. If a poet’s name is not pulled two months in a row, that poet can have their name entered three times in the slam for third consecutive month. A poet with very bad luck could have their name in the lottery as many as five extra times in the April open slam.

The Draw:

The draw will happen at 7:50 SHARP. If there is a lottery, the pull to determine who is slamming will also determine the order in which they will compete. Poets MUST be present at the time of the lottery/draw. If a poet’s name is pulled for a lottery and they are not present or very easily locatable, they forfeit their place and are not eligible for the bonus entry described above. If there is no lottery and a poet is not present or easily locatable during the draw, that poet will compete first; if they are still not present when their name is called during the first round, they will not slam that night.

Qualification for Semifinals:

The poets with the two highest cumulative scores from each slam are automatically in semis. These poets may not compete again in the season until semifinals.

If for some reason either the first or second place winners are not interested in or cannot commit to competing in semifinals, the poet in third place will move up and be deemed qualified for semifinals. If necessary, this will continue until two poets have been qualified for semifinals.
A list of people who place third (or whatever place is below the lowest qualifying poet) in each slam, along with their differential from the two qualifying poets (usually first and second place), will be kept. This list will be consulted in the event someone who has qualified for semifinals cannot compete.

Speciality Slam Dates and Info:

Team semi-finals: Tuesday April 28

The top 12 poets from the season will compete with 3 minute poems. Any poem from the season can be repeated for the semifinals/finals but you cannot repeat the same poem(s) you do in semifinals in finals.

Team finals: Second week in May

Poets will compete in a three round slam (all three minute poems) where the four poets with the highest cumulative score will be named the team for the National Poetry Slam that year. Poets may not repeat poems from semi-finals. The team may opt to allow the 5th place poet on the team as an additional member.