The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and France participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurs in early August every year and takes place in a different US city.
The first ever National Poetry Slam took place in 1990 in San Francisco.[1] It was organized by poet Gary Mex Glazner and featured three competing teams: Chicago (birthplace of slam), New York (Nuyorican), and San Francisco (host city).[1] It has been held every year since.
Currently, the event is run by Poetry Slam Incorporated and requires registration to participate in. In 2012, the National Poetry Slam will take place in Charlotte. Previously, the National Poetry Slam has been held in San Francisco (1990 & 1993), Chicago (1991, 1999 & 2003), Boston (1992), Asheville (1994), Ann Arbor (1995), Portland (1996), Middletown (1997), Austin (1998, 2006 & 2007), Providence (2000), Seattle (2001), Minneapolis (2002), St Louis (2004), Albuquerque (2005), Madison, Wisconsin (2008), West Palm Beach, Florida (2009), St. Paul (2010), and Cambridge (2011).[2]
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 a record four times.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5]
In 2008, the "Indie Finals" was replaced with the "Group Piece Finals," in which the teams with the highest ranking group pieces (multi-voice poems featuring more than one poet) competed for the title. Only teams who weren't already eligible for NPS semifinals were allowed to compete, with New York, NYC-Urbana being the first Group Piece Finals championship team.
Also in 2008, the Women of the World Poem Slam (WOWPS) was introduced, in which only female and female-identified poets are allowed to compete.[6] The first WOWPS was held in Detroit, Michigan and the first WOWPS champion was Andrea Gibson.[7]
The National Poetry Slam has also been the subject of several feature length documentaries, including the 1998 Paul Devlin film SlamNation, and the 2006 Kyle Fuller and Mike Henry film Slam Planet.
Contents |
| Year | Winner | Runners Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Denver, Slam Nuba | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Providence Poetry Slam (4) Columbus OH, Writing Wrongs |
| 2010 | St. Paul, Soapboxing | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Durham N.C., Bull City Slam Team (4) Austin, Neo Soul |
| 2009 | St. Paul, Soapboxing | (2) Albuquerque, ABQ Slams (3) San Francisco (4) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe |
| 2008 | Charlotte, Slam Charlotte | (2) New York, louderARTS (3) Austin (4) Boston, Cantab |
| 2007 | Charlotte, Slam Charlotte | (2) Killeen, TX Rhyme or Die (3) New York, louderARTS (4) Denver, Slam Nuba (5) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe |
| 2006 | Denver | (2) Austin, Southflavas (3) New York, louderARTS (4) DC-Baltimore (5) Miami |
| 2005 | Albuquerque, ABQ Slams | (2) Charlotte, Slam Charlotte (3) Fort Worth (3) Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) |
| 2004 | Hollywood (Da Poetry Lounge) | (2) Denver (3) Dallas (4) Berkeley |
| 2003 | Los Angeles | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Austin (4) Oakland |
| 2002 | New York, NYC-Urbana/ Detroit Tie for First | (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Seattle |
| 2001 | Dallas | (2) Los Angeles (3) Seattle (4) New York, NYC-Urbana |
| 2000 | New York, NYC-Urbana | (2) San Antonio (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) New York, louderARTS |
| 1999 | San Francisco | (2) San Jose (3) New York, Union Square (4) Oakland |
| 1998 | New York | (2) Dallas (3) Los Angeles (4) Cleveland |
| 1997 | New York, | (2) Chicago, Green Mill (3) Cleveland (4) Worcester |
| 1996 | Providence | (2) Berwyn (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Austin |
| 1995 | Asheville | (2) Cleveland (3) Boston (4) Maine |
| 1994 | Cleveland | (2) Boston (3) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (4) Ashville |
| 1993 | Boston | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) Cambridge (4) Cleveland |
| 1992 | Boston | (2) San Francisco (3) Ann Arbor |
| 1991 | Chicago, Green Mill | (2) New York, Nuyorican Poets Cafe (3) San Francisco (4) Boston |
| 1990 | Chicago, Green Mill | (2) San Francisco |
| Year | Winner | Runners Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Danny Sherrard | (2) Christopher Michael (3) Shannon Leigh (4) Alvin Lau (Other finalists: Kealoha, Michael Guinn, 6 is 9, Ed Mabrey, Oz, Robbie Q. Telfer) |
| 2006 | Anis Mojgani | (2) Alvin Lau (3) Jon Goode (4) Lee Knight Jr. (Other finalists: Erin Jackson, Jamie Kilstein, Amy Weaver, Iyeoka Okoawo, Falu, Travis Watkins) |
| 2005 | Janean Livingston Anis Mojgani (tie) | (3) Ragan Fox (4) Christa Bell (Other finalists: Jamie Kennedy, Eric Darby, Xero Skidmore) |
| 2004 | Sonya Renee | (2) Jaylee Alde (3) Shane Koyczan (4) Andrea Gibson (5) Chunky (6) Kimberley Brazwell (7) Rives, Alvin Lau, Janean Livingston |
| 2003 | Mighty Mike McGee | (2) Shane Koyczan (3) Delisle (4) Soul Evans (5) Omari (6) Suzy La Follette (7) Corina Delgado (8) Anis Mojgani (9) Da Shade (10) Jive Poetic |
| 2002 | Sekou tha Misfit | (2) Corbet Dean (3) Kamal Symonette-Dixon (4) Xero Skidmore (5) Rives (6) Gina Loring (7) Shane Koyczan (8) Joel Chmara |
| 2001 | Mayda del Valle | (2) Beau Sia (3) Shawn V. (4) Morris Stegosaurus (5) Angela Boyce (6) Mama Blue |
| 2000 | Shane Koyczan | (2) Bryonn Bain (3) Al Letson (4) Iyeoka Okoawo (5) Michael Cirelli (6) Bao Thien Buc Phi |
| 1999 | Roger Bonair-Agard | (2) Regie Gibson (3) Gayle Danley (4) Jason Carney (5) Ray McNiece (6) Shane Koyczan |
| 1998 | Reggie Gibson | (2) Derrick C. Brown (3) Brian Comiskey (4) Sara Holbrook (5) Cass King (6) Patricia Johnson |
| 1997 | Da Boogie Man | (2) DJ Renegade (3) Glenis Redmond (4) Evert Eden (5) Jerry Quickley (6) Monica Copeland |
| 1996 | Patricia Johnson | (2) Evert Eden (3) Taylor Mali (4) DJ Renegade (5) Wammo (6) Glenis Redmond |
| 1995 | Patricia Smith | (2) Wammo (3) Da Boogie Man (4) ? (5) DJ Renegade (6) Taylor Mali |
| 1994 | Gayle Danley | (2) Carl Hancock-Rux (3) Regie Cabico (4) Derick Prosper (5) DJ Renegade (6) Daniel Gray-Kontar |
| 1993 | Patricia Smith | (2) The Invisible Man (3) Craig Hickman |
| 1992 | Lisa Buscani | (2) Patricia Smith (3) Dana Bryant |
| 1991 | Patricia Smith | (2) Lisa Buscani (3) Michael Brown |
| 1990 | Patricia Smith | (2) Paul Beatty |
| Year | Winner | Runners Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Theresa Davis[9] | |
| 2010 | Eboni Hogan[10] | |
| 2009 | Rachel McKibbens[11] | |
| 2008 | Andrea Gibson | (2) Isis (3) T. Miller (4) Nicole Homer (5) Sonya Renee (6) Tara Hardy (7) Karyna McGlynn (8) Original Woman (9) Christena B. (10) Amy Madison (11) Deep (12) Ms. Wise[12] |