MU grad student drops rhymes for aspiring poets

By Lindsay Eanet

Published Feb. 27, 2007

MU graduate student and spoken word poet Dan Robinson began his presentation by riffing off a verse about Saturday's weather.

"I'd really like to tell you about my punk umbrella," Robinson said. "That was no defense against the rain."

Despite the rain, a small group of student writers and community members attended Robinson's presentation and workshop, Psychology of the Poetry Slam, a look into the rising world of competitive performance poetry, at Jesse Wrench Auditorium in Memorial Union.

The presentation was divided into two major sections, "The Points" and "The Point."

The former was concerned mostly with slam strategy and how to win tournaments, with Robinson taking notes from Chicago slam team member Jason Pettus' book "How To Win A Poetry Slam: The Ugly Truth About Competitive Poetry."

The book gave cardinal rules to aspiring slam poets such as "be oppressed" due to the shared politics and ideologies of many members of the movement and "make a lot of friends" so the applause is contagious. Robinson debunked the myths behind some of Pettus' points but also explained the truth behind them.

The center of the presentation was a piece about "The Point," the psychologically-based aspect of the presentation, in which Robinson discussed how to make a slam performance an experience for both the reader and the audience. After the presentation, Robinson and the remaining students held an impromptu open mic.

Junior Wale Aliyu read an original piece entitled "World Heartache" while junior Loren Persley performed a freestyle poem about the color purple. Kristol Whatley read for the first time in front of an audience and received positive feedback from the group.

The event was held in conjunction with a poetry slam held the previous night in Memorial Union. Three students competed in the slam, with five audience members randomly selected as judges. Aliyu won the competition.

Aliyu, who has been competing in slams and performing at open mics for several years, said the feedback from the audience, both verbal and non-verbal, was important to his performance practice.

"I got some applause last night," Aliyu said. "But silence is good too. Silence is good because it means they're listening."

The Association of College Unions International, an organization that focuses on operations and services based out of college student unions, sponsored both events.

Jacob Brumfield, the regional director of ACUI, said the poetry slam has become part of the national ACUI competitions, and that they plan to start regional slams by adding new schools to the competitions.

Brumfield said he felt that last night's event was a success, and that the poetry slam movement could bring some benefits to the MU community.

"Well, for at least these three students, there was the aspect of competition and a great immediate feedback," Brumfield said.

Robinson hopes that students who take interest in the poetry slam movement do so not only for competitive reasons, but also to draw from the larger experience.

"The importance of poetry slam is to draw in people that otherwise might not go to an event," Robinson said.

MU graduate student Jakeitha Patterson said a student investment in the slam movement could bring certain student issues to light and serve as an artistic means for students to represent their community.

"It can empower and bring forth issues that have been hidden over time," Patterson said. "There are rapes that go unreported, racism in the classrooms. Poetry has the power to heal, to probe deeper and lead to unity and empowerment."