Hawaii Slam

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Hawaii Slam Poetry
Genre(s)	Slam Poetry Spoken word Performance Poetry
Website	Official Site

Hawai'i Slam (a.k.a. HawaiiSlam) is a certified poetry slam that was founded on April 3rd, 2003 by performance poet Kealoha. Hawai'i Slam is responsible for the First Thursdays Poetry Slam at the Hawaiian Hut, which is the largest registered/certified slam poetry venue in the world (with 600+ in attendance).^[1] Hawai`i Slam has official 501(c)(3) non-profit status through Poetry Slam Incorporated.^[2]

First Thursdays features Hawaii's best performance poets, live musicians, live painters, and touring poets. The best spoken word poets from First Thursdays qualify for the Hawai'i Slam Team, which is determined once a year in April. This team competes in festivals on the mainland (including the National Poetry Slam) and also does numerous shows and school visits (assemblies, workshops, etc) throughout the state of Hawai'i. In the 4 years that the Hawai'i Slam Team has represented Hawai'i at the National Poetry Slam, it has made it to semi-finals three times, placing 7th out of 70 teams in 2005.^[3]

In 2006, Hawai'i Slam and First Thursdays won the Best Open Mic Award in the Best of Honolulu Magazine.^[4]

[edit] Mission and Highlights

The mission of First Thursdays is to gain exposure for all the poets who set foot on its stage. It also hopes to give exposure to all other artists, musicians, DJ's and touring poets through its special features.

Past features have included touring poets (Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Beau Sia, Buddy Wakefield, Sekou tha Misfit, Oveous Maximus, Andrea Gibson, Anis Mojgani, Mike McGee, Robbie Q. Telfer, Angelo Moore from Fishbone), musical groups (Quadraphonix, Henry Kapono, Makana, John Cruz, Full Blown Soul, Sewa Fare, Jennifer Johns, the Genie, Jake Shimabukuro, Tempo Valley, Scott Huckabay), theatre productions (Chase, Jaguar Priests, Hip-hopalypse), the Waikiki B-boys, Capoeira Senzala, the Tales From the Arabian Nights troupe, Shakti Dance Movement (bellydancing troupe), and fashion shows by Urban Nomad and Priya.

Past DJs have included Zita (Sisters in Sound), Kavet the Catalyst (Lightsleepers), Skid (Hawaii ITF Champion), Taharba/Sovern-T (Treehaus), Frank(E) from the Beathackers Kollectiv, (Primmitiv (RGU), Chia (SIS), Oliver Twist, Celine (RGU), Toki (SIS), A2Z (Microscopic Syllables), Rebelgirl (RGU), Chris Sabien, Marloca (SIS), Monkey, Mega Supras, and Risup (Direct Descendants).

Past visual artistry has included live painting by Aaron Martin, Solomon Enos, Kimi Werner, Adriano Ferraz, Elisha Kemp, Matt DeMartino, Erin McCullough, the Storekeeper, Dhyana Zagri, Stanstill, Wes Ka`uhane, Pancho Abalos, and Nabahe. There have also been interactive murals by Progress Hawaii and visual projections by SYTE Entertainment, Elea Dumas, and Solomon Enos. Hawai`i Slam's First Thursdays has even had massage therapists, chefs (Ono Pono got its start there), and psychic readers sharing their art forms in the lounges.^[5]