Slam Week Events compiled by Kim Mellen VENUES Book People Sixth and Lamar, 472-5050 Borders 10225 Research Blvd, 795-9553 Electric Lounge: 302 Bowie, 476-FUSE Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: 409 Colorado, 867-1839. Blondies: 510 Rio Grande, 472-7343 Fringeware 2716 Guadalupe, 494-9273 La Zona Rosa: 612 W. Fourth, 472-2293 La Quinta Inn Capitol 300 E. 11th, 476-1166 Mojo's Daily Grind, 2714 Guadalupe, 477-6656 Paramount Theater 703 Congress, 472-5411 Public Domain 807 Congress, 474-6202 Ritz Upstairs: 320 E. Sixth, 474-2270 Ruta Maya: Fourth and Lavaca, 472-9637 Twist: 505 Neches, 320-TWST Tickets for the Friday finals are available through Star Tickets (469-SHOW) and Paramount Box Office (472-5470). A limited number of half-price tickets are available through AUSTIX's The Box Office (454-TIXS, 201 W. Second). Q-Passes ($10, good for all Wed-Fri events) are available through AUSTIX's The Box Office and at all bout venues. Bouts are $3 per venue per night without a Q-Pass. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBSITE http://slam.home.texas.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCHEDULE Pre-Slam events begin on Saturday, August 15, at the Electric Lounge when the 1998 National Poetry Slam Organizing Committee hosts their Cage Match and Silent Auction Preview Party. This year's Austin Slam Team will go up against The Ghosts of Christmas Past (former Austin Slam Team members Mike Henry, Hilary Thomas, Wammo, and Phil West) in a head-to-head poetry duel. Silent auction tables, heaped with goods and services from numerous local businesses, will be available for perusal. Admission is $4. 9pm. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TUESDAY NIGHT OPEN MIKE with hosts Mark Maslow and Sara Wynn. Ruta Maya, sign up before 6pm THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE EXTRAVAGANZA Slam-related movies, including SlamNation, Slam (featuring Saul Williams from the '96 New York team, Beau Sia from the '96 New York team, and the '97 Mouth Almighty team), Wammo's video for "There Is Too Much Light In This Bar," and the '98 Nationals PSA, "which promises to be 30 of the greatest seconds of your life." Marc Smith will also be there to give a reading and the pre-Nationals invocation, $2. Alamo Drafthouse, 8pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEDNESDAY OPENING CEREMONIES Competing teams and individuals meet here and will be introduced. Electric Lounge,1-3pm MASTERPIECE THEATER Slam Hall-of-Famers deliver the poems that made slam great. Mojo's,4:30-6pm INCOMMUNICADO PRESS BOOK PARTY A reading with authors Steve Abee and Jimmy Jazz. Fringeware, 4:30-6pm PRELIMINARY BOUTS Slam teams from all over the country compete for their spot in the finals. See schedule. Rounds begin at 7, 8:30, and 10pm MUTANT DISCO KARAOKE POETRY EXTRAVAGANZA Sing or read to the karaoke machine or the live band. Electric Lounge, approx. 11:30pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THURSDAY POETS LIVING ROOM Taos-style round-robin open mike. Book People, noon-2pm GRAMMAR RODEO AND SPELLING BEE Not for the faint of heart, thrills and spills guaranteed. Mojo's, 1-2:30pm MARC SMITH A reading with the father of the slam, Chicago poet Marc Smith. Book People, 2-3pm POETICALLY INCORRECT Poet talk show discussing the state of contemporary poetry. Mojo's, 2:30-3pm NIGHT OF THE CHIHUAHUA All Latino poetry with Kenn Rodriguez (Albuquerque), Danny Solis (Albuquerque), Marta Sanchez (Seattle), Guy Gonzales (New York), Trinidad Sanchez (San Antonio), and many more. Mojo's, 3-4:30pm JUSTIN CHIN, JEFF MCDANIEL, AND TARIN TOWERS Fringeware, 3:30-4:30pm PROP SLAM Mojo's, 4:30-6pm MANIC D PRESS BOOK PARTY Hosted by Juliette Torrez (San Francisco), Bruce Jackson (San Francisco) and Jeff McDaniel (Los Angeles). Fringeware, 4:30-6pm WRITERS CORP CYBER SLAM Borders, 6pm PRELIMINARY BOUTS Slam teams from all over the country compete for their spot in the finals. See schedule. Rounds begin at 7, 8:30, and 10pm CHEF'S SURPRISE Could be a Bad Poetry Slam, freestyle rapping, or beat-boxing, Tag Team Challenges - only one way to find out. Electric Lounge, about 11:30pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRIDAY THE ANNUAL EAST VS. WEST SOFTBALL GAME Danny Solis said in SlamNation, "In poet softball, you have about 12 people in the infield and 50 people in the outfield, and the object is to be as clumsy as possible so people can laugh at you." Barbecue, beer at second base, and Shappy and Wammo giving their play-by-play from the pressbox. Sunken Gardens softball fields on Robert E. Lee Street, across from Umlauf Sculpture Garden, 11am POETS LIVING ROOM Book People, noon-2pm THE TRUTH ABOUT SUPERHEROES A gay and lesbian showcase with Douglas A. Martin (Athens), Ken Hunt (Madison), Lyska Janacek (Fargo), Justin Chin (San Francisco), Scott Klein (Detroit), Thea Iberall (Los Angeles), and many more. Mojo's, 1-2:30pm PATRICIA SMITH A reading with the four-time poetry slam champion, Boston poet Patricia Smith. Book People, 2-3pm POETICALLY INCORRECT Mojo's, 2:30-3pm CHOCOLATE CITY This African-American writers showcase promises to be delicious. With Boogie Man (Cleveland), Jerry Quickley (Los Angeles), DJ Renegade (Washington, DC), Roger Bonair-Agard (New York), Bruce Jackson (San Francisco), and many more. Garland J. Thompson, Jr. hosts. Mojo's, 3-4:30pm DOUG MARTIN, SPIKE GILLESPIE AND BOB REDMOND Fringeware, 3:30-4:30pm HEAD-TO-HEAD HAIKU SLAM Mojo's, 4:30-6pm SOFT SKULL AND MOUTH ALMIGHTY PARTY Hosted by Sander Hicks and Bob Holman. Fringeware, 4:30-6pm TEAM SEMIFINALS pit the top teams from the preliminaries. Bouts at 7pm and 8:30pm, Blondies, Electric Lounge, La Zona Rosa INDIVIDUAL SEMI-FINALS The top 10 poets in the individual all-arounds go for two rounds of mayhem. The top six will move on to Saturday night. Electric Lounge, approx. 10pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY SLAMMASTERS' MEETING La Quinta Inn Capitol, Lady Bird Room, 10:30-1:30pm POETS LIVING ROOM Book People, noon-2pm FIRESTORM All-femme reading series with Genevieve Van Cleve (Austin), Christina Springer (Pittsburgh), Lea Deschenes (Laguna Beach), Sabrina Hayeem-Ladani (Albuquerque), Lisa Martinovic (Fayetteville, Ark.), Anne MacNaughton (Taos) and more. Mojo's, 1-2:30pm BOB HOLMAN A reading with poetry impresario and slam godfather, New Yorker Bob Holman. Fringeware, 2-3pm YOUNG VOICES SLAM Open to poets 21 and younger. Mojo's, 3-4:30pm AUSTIN CINEMAKER CO-OP PRESENTS EXQUISITE CORPSE FILM FESTIVAL Super-8 film screening modeled on the poetry-writing exercise. Public Domain, 4-5pm ELLYN MAYBE AND MATTHEW NIBLOCK W/ SPECIAL GUESTS Fringeware, 3:30-4:30pm RAP SLAM Mojo's, 4:30-6pm 2.13.61 PUBLICATIONS/SACRED BEVERAGE PRESS PARTY Hosted by Ellyn Maybe and Matthew Niblock. Fringeware, 4:30-6pm THE 1998 NATIONAL POETRY SLAM FINALS will be held at the Paramount. The Asylum Street Spankers will open the show, followed by Best of the Week Showcase Poems, the first two rounds of the team finals, the individual finals, and the concluding two rounds of the team finals. Paramount Theater, 8pm

So what is a poetry slam? you ask. From teh http://slam.home.texas.net website: At a Poetry Slam participants are given three minutes to step up to the mic and perform a poem of their own construction. No props. No costumes. No musical accompaniment. After the poet finishes, he or she is scored by a panel of 5 judges who have been selected from the audience. Scale of 0.0 to 10.0 . . . just like the Olympics. Judges give scores based on both content and performance. The high and low scores are dropped - the remaining three are added together - and the poem has a score. As the night progresses, poet after poet will take the stage, each attempting to impact the audience (and the judges) just a little more deeply than the last person did. The audience is encouraged to respond to the poet (and the judges) in whatever way they see fit-- cheering, booing, laughing, heckling. Anything is fair game. There's an MC that keeps the show moving and in the end someone wins a little cash, some bragging rights, and the rare and tangible proof that they connected with the audience. An audience that just got to see a lot of great poetry and have a heck of a lot of fun . . . that's what the Slam is all about. Brainchild of Chicagoan Marc Smith, the Slam has evolved over the last decade on the strength of its precepts; involving the audience, taking away the safety net, and making poetry readings real, visceral experiences instead of the overly polite, staid events that many poetry readings had become. The Slam has become the flagship of the resurgence of the spoken word craze. It's the sport of spoken word. And each year, poetry slammers converge on a previously agreed upon city to circle the wagons for four days of knock-down, drag-out poetic battle called the National Poetry Slam. This August, Austin, Texas will proudly play host to teams of poets representing 45 cities, a system that inserts team dynamics, multi-voice performances and group strategy in to the usually singular art of performing poetry. Six venues will host the first two nights of tournament competition. The field will slim to 18 teams for the semi-final night and then culminate in a final four-team bout which will take place in the majestic Paramount Theater in a high-stakes battle for thousands of dollars and immeasurable amounts of pride. During the week of Nationals, Austin not only gets the best of the best in competition, but also in a variety of daytime showcases and competitions, not to mention witnessing first hand the intense reunion of the National Poetry Slam family as they celebrate their art, their passion, and each other.

so jealous!!!! Did you go to some of the events?!?!

I didn't...