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The Legends of AZ Slam!
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Dan Seaman is a 2nd Generation Arizonan who was encouraged to continue writing poetry... despite the obvious physical contradictions of his overtly masculine appearance and furrowed brow. His work has been described as "realistic romanticism"... and his voice, as "an undertow of emotion". Dan was also a co-founder of the 2001-2007 Arizona State Championships held at Arcosanti, diligently planning, hosting, managing and overall making sure the best weekend of poetry is the state lived up to it's pedigree...
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Patrick Hare hasn't let his obvious lack of talent or incredibly awkward stage presence keep him from getting in front of any audience that makes the mistake of allowing him on the stage. His poetry career began in 1993 when he read poems over the air on KTUH, the University of Hawaii's radio station, but unfortunately the 3-6AM timeslot and 100 watt signal limited his demographic considerably. He gained a cult following (which is defined as being between 6 and 20 people) in Colorado Springs before moving to Arizona in 1997 where he fell into the Poetry Slam Scene, where he gained the notoriety of becoming an Extremely Minor Celebrity for a number of years. He was part of the teams representing Mesa at the National Poetry Slam in Austin in 1998, was an alternate at the 1999 Chicago Slam, and dazzled a decidedly rigged competition in Seattle in 2001, where he had the honor of being told by some guy from Denver that his Abraham Lincoln poem was the only memorable piece that stuck out after 3 days of poetry. Since that time Patrick has hosted many events, featured at a few more, and written at least 5 new poems. Patrick's poems are best described as insanely observational rants which could have been prevented by a number of commonly available antipsychotic pharmaceuticals.
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A native of Ohio, Bill Campana started writing songs when he was 17. He would sing them for writing classes at his high school and later at open mic night at a vegetarian restaurant in Maple Heights, Ohio. Soon realizing that the singer/songwriter would eventually be a thing of the past (actually it was all the pre-performance vomiting) he stopped writing and moved to Arizona. After his 16-year marriage ended, he began writing poetry. Hearing a radio commercial for a poetry slam hosted by Mary "The Bone Mama" McCann, he called the station and asked her what slam was. Her explanation included the words, "You gotta live it." While competing in his first slam, he heard a poet named Patrick Hare and observed, "oh, so you can be funny and do this." Three months later (December, 1997) he heard about a weekly slam in Mesa at the Essenza Coffee House. The rest is history. Bill was a member of four slam teams representing that venue from 1998 through 2001. He has featured in more venues, readings and events in the Phoenix area than he can count, as well as Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff, Jerome, Arcosanti, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a regular co-host of the Essenzaslam from 2000 to 2003, and has hosted Grand Slams in Albuquerque and Flagstaff. |
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Jewel Blackfeather is many, many things- poet is just one of them. She worked tirelessly for years on the Slab City Slam, helping to make it a premiere event in the southwest. She has written books and for magazines, and for journals, and for herself. Recently, she returned to the desert, and now is your opportunity to see what you missed while she was away. In her own words: "I'm everything your mama warned you about and nothing you want to take home to her: a modern kinda bratling with a penchant for wearing dangerous shoes and talking tons of jive. I wish my stomach were a lily and my tongue a rosepetal. Instead, I am a blur of awkwardness and mussed hair. Eat me up (and eat me good) with a spoon at muse.livejournal.com (no www before the word muse), lynxmouth.tumblr.com, or numbmagazine.com. Go ahead and underestimate me. You make me stronger that way. I'll sharpen my teeth on your bones." |
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David Tabor once performed a feature in a wrestling mask. That's all you really need to know- that, and if you say Mesa Slam, you are really saying, David Tabor and some other poets that came later. |
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There is no poet in Arizona with more slam tenure than Sarge Lintecum. Why? Because he, with Mary McCann, founded poetry slam in Phoenix. Oh, and did we put his Vietnam Veteran information here?
VIETNAM COMBAT VETERAN: Sarge did three tours of duty in Vietnam, 1966-'67-'68. His first tour was eleven months in the jungle with the 101st Airborne Paratroopers as a combat infantryman. During that time he advanced to Squad Leader. Sarge came down with malaria three times, jungle-rot, immersion-foot, two varieties of internal parasites, a shrapnel wound in his leg, exposure to Agent Orange, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which Sarge says is the "Vietnam Blues". Sarge received the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct medal, a Vietnam Service Medal with 1 Bronze Service Star and 1 Silver Service Star, Parachute Jump Wings, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, a Valorous Unit Emblem, a Republic Of Vietnam Gallantry Cross With Palm Unit Citation Badge, and five Over-Seas Bars.
Or, that he's a musician?
MUSICIAN: Sarge, a fine harmonica player, is endorsed and sponsered by Lee Oskar, of WAR fame, and owner of the Lee Oskar Harmonica Company. Lee Oskar has come to Phoenix, Arizona, on five occasions to do benefit concerts that Sarge and his wife and business partner, Leslie Nan Lintecum, conceived of and organized. Lee Oskar is going to be on Sarge's new CD, "P.T.S.D. Blues" which will be released in 2008!
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Copper State Championships 