The Brooklyn Poetry Slam returns to BRiC Media Arts!

   Thursday was the first slam of this years slam season at BRiC, located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. 2016's Brooklyn Slam Team has just returned from NPS(The National Poetry Slam) in Decatur, Georgia after ranking 5th in the nation. Now it is already time to start building the 2017 team. The slams are monthly and end with one winner who will advance to Finals.  Much like it has been for the past two years, Bric is a great space for a poetry slam with it's stoop-like staircase seating and wide open space for performance, art work, and screenings it is a warm space often filled with fun and entertainment. There is always an art exhibit on display that guests can view at anytime before or after the slam. The atmosphere, especially for this event, is very welcoming. When it comes to the Brooklyn Poetry Slam the space is almost always packed out.

    The show was opened up with a feature from none other than host of the Brooklyn Poetry Slam and Brooklyn Slam Coach Mahogany L. Browne. She read a select few poems from her recently published collection of poetry "Redbone" and well as a few new pieces. Then started the slam. There were 2 rounds, 7 poets signed up, the top 3 scoring poets advance to the 2nd round and then the poet with the highest cumulative score wins. The winner was 2016 Brooklyn Slam Team member Steven Willis, 2015 Nuyorican Poets Café slam team member Hongy took 2nd place, and the poet who came in 3rd place was myself. Stories of identity, race, origin, and culture swarmed the spaced wow'ing, entertaining, and educating the audience all together. It was a great kick-off to the slam season and a huge indicator to the competition and fun to come for the next few months. 

For more info on BRiC Media Arts, The Brooklyn Poetry Slam, as well as other events and exhibitions visit http://www.bricartsmedia.org. The next Brooklyn Poetry will be October 27th at 7pm !