 |
The Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS) is a yearly poetry slam tournament put on by Poetry Slam, Inc. that pits individual slam poets from around the world against one another.
| |
The Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS) is a yearly poetry slam tournament put on by Poetry Slam, Inc. that pits individual slam poets from around the world against one another.
From 1990 to 2007, the National Poetry Slam held an "individual" poetry competition (known as "indies") simultaneously with the team competition, with the poets earning the highest ranking individual poems during the first two days of competition moving on the semifinal and final rounds. The first ever winner of this event was Patricia Smith, who would go on to win the Individual National Poetry Slam Championship title four times, a record she shares with Ed Mabrey. [1]
Starting in 2004, Poetry Slam Inc (PSI) decided to host a separate event called the Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS), in which solo poets (not teams of poets) competed for the championship title. [2] The first iWPS [3] was held in Greenville, SC [4] under the direction of Kimberly J. Simms [5] and the first iWPS champion was Buddy Wakefield. [6]
Because of the popularity of iWPS and to avoid the confusion of two "individual" poetry slam titles being awarded ever year, Poetry Slam Inc. decided to cancel the "indie" competition at the National Poetry Slam. [7]
In 2016, the competition was held in Flagstaff, Arizona. [8] In 2017, it was held in Spokane, WA and in 2018-2019 it was held in San Diego, CA. When PSI dissolved, the name was taken by the Dallas Poetry Slam who planned to organize the event in 2020. [9] After being derailed for years by the pandemic, iWPS is rumored to return in 2023 under new leadership.
The tournament has two days of preliminary rounds, in which poets compete in 1, 2, 3, and 4 minute bouts. After these 4 bouts are completed, the poet's rankings in each bout are added up and the top 12 poets of the tournament are invited to compete in the final round. A 3 minute time limit is applied to the poems in the final round.
| Year | Winner | Runners Up | Number of Competitors | Host City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Jay Ward, Akeem Olaj, Breeze (Tie) | (4) Meccamorphosis (5) Anita D (6) TIE - Xach Blunt & RJ Wright (8) TIE - Yaw Kyeremateng & Doctor TJ (10) Hakeem Furious (11) Cocoa Flo (12) TIE - Kimberly Arrington & Bluz (14) Jael Benjamin | 74 | San Diego, CA |
| 2018 | Mic Ting | (2) Natasha Hooper (3) Koi aka Coy (4) David G (5) Wayne Henry (6) Jay Ward (7) Yaw Kyeremateng (8) Curtis Davis (9) Melania Luisa (10) TIE - Shasparay Lighteard & Breeze (12) Rio Chanae (13) Ryan J | 84 | San Diego, CA |
| 2017 | Arvind Nandakumar | (2) Anthony McPherson (3) Kenneth Something (4) Rudy Francisco (5) Kofi Dadzie (6) RJ Walker (7) Damien McClendon (8) Asia Bryant-Wilkerson (9) Christopher Michael (10) Steven Willis (11) Yaw Kyeremateng (12) Michael Harriot (13) Jahman Hill (14) Ed Mabrey | 90 | Spokane, WA |
| 2016 | Ed Mabrey | (2) Rage Almighty (3) Patrick Roche (4) Joaquin Zihuatanejo (5) Ebo Barton (6) Akeem Olaj (7) Johnny Osi (8) FreeQuency (9) Jozer (10) TIE - Toaster & Ashlee Haze (12) Emtithal Mahmoud (13) Christopher Michael (14) Steven Willis | 96 | Flagstaff, AZ |
| 2015 | Emtithal Mahmoud [10] | (2) Rasheed Copeland (3) TIE - FreeQuency & Christopher Michael (5) TIE - Rudy Francisco & Imani Cezanne (7) TIE - Porsha O & Javon Johnson (9) TIE- Crystal Valentine & TaneshaNicole (10) Steven Willis (11) Paul Tran (12) D.E.E.P. | 96 | Washington, DC |
| 2014 | Porsha O [11] | (2) Danez Smith (3) Desireé Dallagiacomo (4) Hanif Abdurraqib (5) Will Evans (6) TIE - Damien Flores & Hieu Nguyen (8) Ed Mabrey (9) Joaquin Zihuatanejo (10) Twain (11) Imani Cezanne (12) Leo Bryant | 72 | Phoenix, AZ [12] |
| 2013 | Ed Mabrey & Chancelier "Xero" Skidmore (Tie) [13] | (3) Aaron Samuels (4) Jozer (5) Rudy Francisco (6) Dominique Ashaheed (7) Carrie Rudzinski (8) Joaquin Zihuatanejo (9) TIE - Outspoken Bean & Denice Frohman (11) Doc Luben (12) Antwaun "Twain" Davis | 70 | Spokane, WA |
| 2012 | Ed Mabrey [14] | (2) Thuli Zuma (3) Melissa May (4) Seth Walker (5) Clint Smith (6) 6 is 9 (7) Franny Choi (8) Brian "Omni" Dillon (9) TIE - Lauren Zuniga & George "G" Yamazawa, Jr. (11) Cameron Awkward-Rich (12) Lisa Slater | 67 | Fayetteville, AR |
| 2011 | Chris August [15] | (2) Jesse Parent (3) Kait Rokowski (4) TIE - Tatyana Brown & Brian "Omni" Dillon (6) Danez Smith (7) Alvin Lau (8) Ed Mabrey (9) Michael Lee (10) TIE - Suzi Q Smith & Joanna Hoffman (12) Storm Thomas (13) Robyn Bateman *There were 13 finalists instead of 12 due to a tie at the 12th qualifying rank | 78 | Cleveland, OH |
| 2010 | Rudy Francisco [16] | (2) Jesse Parent (3) Chancelier "Xero" Skidmore (4) C. P. Maze (5) George "G" Yamazawa, Jr. (6) Thomas "Tre G" Gilbert (7) Tara Hardy (8) Alvin Lau (9) Gary Johnson (10) Zak "Kane" Corsi (11) Sasha Langford (12) Houston Hughes | 72 | Charlotte, NC |
| 2009 | Amy Everhart [17] | (2) Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo (3) Rudy Francisco (4) 6 is 9 (5) Theo Wilson (6) The Original Woman (7) Tara Hardy (8) Ed Mabrey (9) Sierra DeMulder (10) Kim Johnson (11) William Evans (12) Alvin Lau | 96 | Berkeley, CA |
| 2008 | Joaquin Zihuatanejo [18] | (2) Jason McBeth (3) 6 is 9 (4) Buddy Wakefield (5) Joshua Bennet (6) Andrew Tyree (7) Lizz Straight (8) Tara Hardy (9) Colin Gilbert (10) Bobby LeFebre (11) Queen Sheba (12) The Original Woman | 70 | Charlotte, NC |
| 2007 | Ed Mabrey [19] [20] | (2) Anis Mojgani (3) Andrea Gibson (4) Jamie DeWolf (5) Dan Leaman (6) Sonya Renee (7) Jared Paul (8) Ryler Dustin (9) Nicole Homer (10) Buddy Wakefield (11) J. W. "Baz" Basilo (12) Da'shade Moonbeam | 72 | Vancouver, BC |
| 2006 | Mighty Mike McGee [21] | (2) Joaquin Zihuatenejo (3) Andrea Gibson (4) Jared Paul (5) Da Minista (6) Versiz (7) Sonya Renee (8) Stephanie Williams (9) Krissi Reeves (10) Rachel McKibbens (11) Basik Knowledge (12) Q | 71 | Charlotte, NC |
| 2005 | Buddy Wakefield [22] [23] | (2) Versiz (3) Maze Forever (4) Roger Bonair-Agard (5) Joaquin Zihuatanejo (6) Black Butta Fly (Mekkah) (7) Chris August (8) Bluz (9) Future (10) Da Minista (11) MAD (12) Ansel Appleton | 60 | Worcester, MA |
| 2004 | Buddy Wakefield [6] [24] | (2) TIE - Celena Glenn & Ed Mabrey (4) Rachel McKibbens (5) Paradox (6) Alvin Lau (7) ? (8) Marcell Murphy (9) Beth Bullmer [25] (Other finalists: Ali Langston, Thee Black Falcon, Jonathan Brown, Xodus) | 60 | Greenville, SC |
A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery.
Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation and word play, such as the performer's live intonation and voice inflection. Spoken word is a "catchall" term that includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including poetry readings, poetry slams, jazz poetry, pianologues, musical readings, and hip hop music, and can include comedy routines and prose monologues. Unlike written poetry, the poetic text takes its quality less from the visual aesthetics on a page, but depends more on phonaesthetics, or the aesthetics of sound.
Michael Matthew McGee, more commonly known as Mighty Mike McGee, is an American slam poet.
Buddy Wakefield is an American poet, three-time world champion spoken word artist, and the most toured performance poet in history. His latest works have been released by Righteous Babe Records (album) and Write Bloody Publishing (books). He has lived in Sanborn, New York, Baytown, Texas, Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, California, and currently lives in Porto, Portugal.
Poetry Slam, Inc. (PSi) is a non-profit organization that runs three poetry slams: the National Poetry Slam (NPS), the Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS), and the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWps). Poetry Slam, Inc. was established in 1997 to oversee and enforce the rules of the National Poetry Slam. Their mission is "to promote the performance and creation of poetry while cultivating literary activities and spoken word events in order to build audience participation, stimulate creativity, awaken minds, foster education, inspire mentoring, encourage artistic statement and engage communities worldwide in the revelry of language".
PuroSlam is a poetry slam operating in San Antonio, Texas. Started in 1999 by Benjamin Ortiz, PuroSlam has earned a national reputation as one of the "toughest, roughest, rowdiest" poetry slams in the United States, bringing the exciting world of performance poetry to South Texas on a weekly basis. It is the only nationally certified. “I’m excited about San Antonio,” says Boston poet Dawn Gabriel in a 2006 article in the San Antonio Current, “because they have a reputation for being the meanest Slam poets around.”
Anis Mojgani is an American spoken word poet, visual artist and musician based in Portland, Oregon. Mojgani has been characterized as a "geek genius" with "fiercely hopeful word arias."
Tazuo Basho Yamaguchi is a Japanese-American poet, filmmaker, storyteller, musician, painter, jllustrator and puppeteer. He both a national and world head-to-head haiku champion. He is also master of the English form of haiku and senryū. He has published four books of poetry and six recorded volumes. He also produced the National Poetry Slam, International World Poetry Individual Slam, Women of the World DVD from 2002 to 2013.
The National Poetry Slam (NPS) was a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurred in early August every year and in different U.S. cities. The last National Poetry Slam took place in 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.
Andrea Gibson is an American poet and activist from Calais, Maine, who has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 1999. Gibson's poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, social justice, and LGBTQ topics.
The Austin Poetry Slam (APS) is one of the longest running poetry venues in Texas. Founded in 1994 by Wammo of the Asylum Street Spankers and helmed for 15 years by former Poetry Slam, Inc. president, Mike Henry, Austin Slam is renowned for memorable and often raucous performances by many of the best poets in the slam poetry world. Austin Slam is best known nationally for hosting the National Poetry Slam (NPS) in 1998, 2006, & 2007, and for Austin teams' national finals stage performances in 1996, 2003, & 2008.
Brave New Voices (BNV) is a youth spoken word festival created by the nonprofit organization Youth Speaks in 1998. Its conception was inspired by the inaugural Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam in San Francisco, California, which was the first poetry slam dedicated to youth in the world. In the years since, Brave New Voices has grown to represent young writers from the ages of 13 to 19, and it is the largest ongoing spoken word festival in the world.
The Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWPS) is an annual international poetry competition and festival. The poetry slam is open to "people 18 years and older who navigate the world as and/or identify as womxn".
The College Union Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) is an annual Poetry Slam tournament put on by the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) in which teams of four or five college students from different colleges and universities compete against each other. Its location changes every year.
Takanori Nagase is a Japanese judoka.
Rudy K. Francisco is an American spoken word poet and writer. He has won several poetry slams and written six books of poetry: Getting Stitches, Scratch, No Gravity, No Gravity Part II, Helium, and I'll Fly Away. He made an appearance on TV One's Verses and Flow and performed his spoken word poems "Complainers" and "Rifle" on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Imani Cezanne is an American activist and spoken word poet. She is the founding president of President of S.P.E.A.K..
Porsha Olayiwola is a Black American poet based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Chrysanthemum Tran is a Vietnamese American poet, writer, and performer based in Rhode Island.
Kimberly J. Simms is a South Carolina poet, educator, and non-profit leader. Recognized for her contributions to the poetry slam community, Simms is celebrated for her work exploring the lives and voices of textile mill workers in the Piedmont region, as well as for her involvement in poetry performance and education.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)