Oh. It’s that time of year again. That time when no matter who you are, you got something to say about Love. Welp. Let’s hear it!! Join us for an incredible feature by Chicago’s own literary badass, José Olivarez, and our Love and Heartbreak Theme Slam!!

COMPETING POETS, TAKE NOTE: THIS IS THE LAST THEME SLAM BEFORE THE IRON POET SLAM ON APRIL 26TH. IF YOU HAVEN’T COMPETED IN A THEME SLAM YET AND WANT TO GO FOR TEAM, THIS IS YOUR SECOND TO LAST CHANCE TO DO SO.

6:00pm: Free Poetry Workshop with Sara Emily Kuntz
7:00pm: Sign ups for Open Mic and Slam
7:30pm: Open Mic
8:00pm: Feature
8:30pm: Poetry Slam

About our Feature:

José Olivarez is the co-author of the book of poems Home Court. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the Program Director at Urban Word NYC. A winner of a 2015 Bronx Recognizes Its Own award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, his work has been published in The BreakBeat Poets, Vinyl Poetry and Prose, The Acentos Review, Specter Magazine, Union Station Magazine, among other places. His work has also been featured on Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie basketball blog, Chicago Public Radio, and on Mass Poetry’s PoeTry on the T program. He is from Calumet City, IL, and he lives in the Bronx. You can purchase Home Court at https://homecourtpoems.tumblr.com/purchase & follow him on social media at @jayohessee.

About our Slam:

Bust out your sexy erotica, your heartfelt odes, your viled and anguished break-up lines.

::THEME SLAMS::

We have a variety of Theme Slams, meant to introduce different artistic elements, challenges, and inspiration to our work. Points will be recorded for the sake of naming a “winner”, however, these points do not count towards your total score for the quarter. Your participation in one Theme slam meets your requirement for Final Stage Participation. All theme slams will take up to 8 competitors, and will be ranked in an 8-5-3 cumulative fashion. Each round has a 3 min time limit unless otherwise stated.

All slammers who are competing to represent Union Square Slam nationally in 2016 and beyond, at either IWPS, WOWPS, or as part of the Union Square Slam Nationals Team, MUST participate in BOTH a New Shit Slam and a Theme Slam at any point during the slam season. (9/14/15 – 4/28/15). You may compete in any or all of these slams, whether or not you intend to go out for the team, however, preference may be given to competitors that have qualified for Semis or Finals.