His Worship Naheed Nenshi Mayor of Calgary to Judge Finals of “Can You Hear Me Now?” – Calgary’s Inaugural High School Poetry SLAM

Mayor Naheed Nenshi has graciously and generously agreed to judge the final round of competition for Can You Hear Me Now? the inaugural Calgary city high schools poetry SLAM on May 10, 2014.

There will be more than fifty poets representing seven city high schools from both the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Separate School District, including Lord Beaverbrook, Bishop Grandin, Father Lacombe, and St. Anne in the first semi-final at 9 a.m.; and Centennial, Bowness, Robert Thirsk, and Father Lacombe high schools in the second semi-final at 12 p.m. The top two teams from each semi-final will compete in the finals, which start at 3 p.m. The SLAM is being held in the Lord Beaverbrook High School theatre (9019 Fairmount Drive SE).

The Mayor will be joined by a variety of local poets and entertainers, including:

• SLAM Master extraordinaire Sheri-D Wilson (named one of CBC Arts Top Ten Poets in Canada in 2009 and all-around legendary poet),
• Kris Demeanor (Calgary’s Poet Laureate from 2012-2014),
• Adrienne Adams (creator and host of “Woolf’s Voices”),
• Wakefield Brewster (local performance poet and actor),
• Paul Finkleman (longtime Calgary performance poet),
• Desiree Gravel (member of the 2014 Calgary SLAM team),
• D. A. Jones (singer/songwriter and member of Nerds in Cool Clothing),
• Christa Mayer (member of Prairie Fire, the 2013 Calgary SLAM team),
• Adora Nwofor (from The Sunday Omony Show),
• Kirk Ramdath (founder of both the Passion Pitch poetry series and Auburn Nights),
• Juleta Severson-Baker (from Mount Royal University’s Speech Arts Faculty),
• Esau Tamura (member of the Calgary SLAM team in 2010 and 2014),
• Ryan Thelwell (Calgary Stampeders’ receiver from 2007 to 2011),
• Emily Ursuliak (local writer and member of the Calgary Public Library teen services team),
• Benjamin Valentine (popular Calgary comedian).

We’d like to express our deepest and most sincere gratitude to all of the people who have volunteered their time, expertise, and selves, to help make this an amazing opportunity for all the poets!

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