Tag Archives: SLAM

2 Days and Counting

Just two days left until Can You Hear Me Now? 2016 kicks off.

The poets are madly writing and memorizing their poems (still?!?). The coaches are nervously planning their trips, calmly reassuring their poets, and desperately emailing their questions. The judges are expertly honing their judgments by scoring everything they see, from meals to driving skills. (“I give the pancakes an 8.4, but Mr. McSleepy gets a 6.9 because of his lack of commitment and a 0.5 point deduction for taking longer than 3 minutes to change lanes,” one judge was heard saying on the way to work this morning.)

All because in just 40 hours, more than 100 Alberta poets will converge on Ernest Manning High School (20 Springborough Blvd. SW, Calgary) in an epic battle of words, wit, woefulness, whimsy, and theatricality* to determine the greatest poetry slam team of this generation!**

Bring a non-perishable food item (a donation for the Calgary Food Bank) to gain entry for the weekend, with everything starting at 3 pm on Friday, May 13. The full schedule can be found on the Attend page, so stop by, say “Hi,” and experience some spectacular poetry!

 

 

 

 

*Of course “theatricality” breaks both the rhythm and the alliteration of the other words, but this is a blog post, not poetry – what did you expect? If you’re a sucker for rhythm and alliteration, you better attend the slam this weekend!

**This comment is merely for hyperbolic effect and is not an actual description of any award or prize actually being awarded or prized at CYHMN? 2016.

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Sheri-D and Erin Dingle to MC Slam Finals!

Local spoken-word poetry legend Sheri-D Wilson and Canadian individual slam finalist Erin Dingle will be hosting the Final Stage at CYHMN? 2016 on Saturday, May 14 from 3 pm to 5 pm at Ernest Manning High School (20 Springborough Blvd. SW, Calgary, Alberta).

In addition, the Calgary slam team will be starting the finals with a team performance. After, the best 4 teams of poets in the province of Alberta will compete to be named Can You Hear Me Now? Poetry Slam Champions for 2016.

This all happens in less than 5 days! Check out the schedule to see when you can witness the poetic spectacle of CYHMN? Remember that admission costs 1 non-perishable food item (in support of the Calgary Food Bank).

If you’d like to volunteer to help out at the slam (time keeper, score keeper, judge), please contact Richard Wagner (rgwagner@cbe.ab.ca) as soon as possible.


Slam Schedule Posted!

If you’re planning to join nearly 150 poets at the largest poetry slam in the province on May 13 and 14, you should know who you’re going to watch, and when.

The schedule for the weekend has been posted, and you can find it here: Attend

Once again this year, we are supporting the Calgary Food Bank with donations of non-perishable food items or money at the door. If you are planning to attend, please make a donation to this worthy charity. One food item will earn you a stamp that will let you attend every bout for the whole weekend – it’s a great deal!

Team pages for each participating team are now available for editing, as well. Post pictures, poems, or links to videos on your team page to share your work with others.

 

 


Ultimate Monthly Slam!

This is it – the final monthly slam before provincial finals on May 13 and 14 (at EM High).

On Tuesday, April 5 at Loft 112 (#112, 535 8 Ave SE, Calgary, Alberta), with doors opening at 6:30 pm (don’t arrive too much before that unless you want to pick up a coffee at Hears My Soul or hang out in the beautiful spring air), poets from Southern Alberta will gather for one last open mic and poetry slam to hone their skills for the provincial slam next month.

We will even have a special performance by local Calgary poet, Miranda Krogstad (who has featured at Expressions, Shelf Life Books, U of C, and many other local poetry readings)!

Come out and share your writing with an all-ages crowd of poetry connoisseurs and performers, whether during the open mic or head-to-head with other poets during the slam.

As always, we want to thank our sponsor, ATB Financial, for their financial, personal, and professional support!

See you there!


Penultimate Monthly Poetry Slam!

Congratulations to Jared Sexfang on winning the February slam! Congratulations and thank yous, as well, to all the participants in the slam and the open mic!

Tomorrow night is the second-to-last monthly slam before provincials in May (May 13 and 14). We’ll start the night with open mic and then proceed to slamming some poems!

Doors open at 6:30 pm (you will not be allowed in until 6:30 pm, so if you arrive early go get a coffee from Hear’s My Soul Cafe). Those doors that I am speaking of are found at Loft 112 (#112 – 535 8 Ave SE).

As always, thanks to our sponsor, ATB Financial, for making these monthly meetings possible!

See you tomorrow night!


Tonight!

The third month of open mic and the second month of slam – tonight at Loft 112 (#112 – 535 8 Ave SE, Calgary) starting at 6:30 pm.

Sign up to either open mic or slam at the door, and demonstrate your poetic prowess, your word wizardry, and your verbal vehemence to legions of adoring fans!

See you there!

Thanks to ATB Financial, as always, for their generous sponsorship of all of our events!


A Gift, Just for You

In keeping with the spirit of the seasons, we here at CYHMN? have two little gifts for you. The first is a gift of information so that in the shortened and darkened days ahead you can feel some reassurance from a sense of certainty about what the future holds as you rest your weary, and possibly sugar-plum-filled heads.

The dates for CYHMN? 2016 have been set!

On May 13 and 14, 2016, school-aged poets from across the province will once again meet and slam in Calgary to see which school and students get to (are able to) hoist the much-adored but impossible-to-duplicate CYHMN? trophy as they are named Alberta’s provincial slam champions!

The second gift is one of rhyme:

As you do perpetually,

keep checking back determinedly

for the latest insiders’ story

about the slamming of poetry.

But for now rest assuredly

in the satisfying certainty

that 2 days are hurriedly

coming towards us currently,

which will be filled with poetry

and a profound sense of community

unless you horrifically, heinously, and criminally

choose to go somewhere ever-so-distantly

from Alberta’s home of school-aged slam poetry,

also known as the city of Calgary.

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Wonderful Winter Solstice, Beautiful Bodhi Day, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Festivus, or Happy Holidays (whichever you happen to celebrate)!


Back and Better Than Ever!

Sorry for the long silence, slam fans, but we’re back and better than ever!

First and foremost, we’re going to be holding MONTHLY events in Calgary starting with an open mic on Tuesday, November 3! Admission is free, and it starts at 6:30 pm. You can sign up at the door or by sending an email to Richard Wagner (rgwagner@cbe.ab.ca). (Out of courtesy to all poets, please limit performances to less than 5 minutes.)

Loft 112 (#112 – 535 8 Ave SE, Calgary) is hosting us, and ATB Financial is still generously sponsoring us!

We’ll be running an event on the first Tuesday of every month at Loft 112 (starting at 6:30 pm), with a monthly all-ages slam beginning (hopefully!) in December so polish up your best haikus, sonnets, or slam poems and be ready for some incredibly fun, supportive, and inspiring nights of poetry!

Second, check out the latest and greatest: the amazing logo design for this year, created by the winner of the 2015 design competition, Clarissa Noel of Lord Beaverbrook High School. It’s the beautiful piece of art in the top-ish, right-hand corner of this page (just to the right of the title of this blog).

And third, check back next week to see (and download your own copy of) the poster advertising all of the monthly Can You Hear Me Now? events for this season.

Our website will be getting updated much more regularly going forward, so check back every week for the latest news, tell all your friends to check back regularly, and be sure to subscribe to the Twitter feed: @HearMeNowYYC so you don’t miss any of the latest news.


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!

Follow us on Twitter @HearMeNowYYC or use #hearmenowyyc to join the conversation.