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Aspen, CO (February 2, 2016) –On February 12th, young poets from across the Roaring Fork Valley will take the stage at the Third Street Center for an event that is quickly becoming a community tradition. Now in its third year, the slam is the culmination of two weeks of workshops and assemblies conducted in Valley schools each February by Arizona poets and teaching artists Myrlin Hepworth and Logan Phillips, and Albuquerque poet Mercedez Holtry.
“My job as a poet is not just to create verse, but it’s also to create more room for verse in the world around us,” said Phillips. It is this mission that drives Aspen Words’ Youth Poetry program and slam event each February. This short video gives a snapshot of the program, which will reach 16 schools and over 3,000 students between Aspen and Glenwood Springs over the next two weeks.
Hepworth, Phillips, and Holtry are all veterans of the slam poetry scene, a movement that has been sweeping through the country. Following last year’s residency, Holtry went on to place third at the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Hepworth, who doubles as an emcee and hip hop artist, has competed on three National Poetry Slam teams and co-founded and coached the Phoenix youth team to consecutive appearances in the Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam. Raised in the Sonora borderlands, Phillips lived in and around Mexico City for several years where he contributed to organizing and hosting the country’s first regular poetry slam series.
All three bilingual poets are skilled at building bridges in communities and empowering young people to express themselves. Former Roaring Fork High School English teacher Krystal Wu said that last year’s poetry workshops opened her students to “the many profound ways that reading and writing can breathe and move beyond the pages of our academic essays or textbooks.”
The two-week program has led to the formation of the Roaring Fork Valley’s first Youth Poetry Slam team, FirstWord, which meets every Monday at Steve’s Guitars in Carbondale, CO. Free and open to all Roaring Fork Valley high school students, this group provides an opportunity for young writers of all experience levels to continue writing and performing poetry even after the Aspen Words Youth Poetry Slam in February.
EVENT DETAILS
Friday, February 12 | 6:30-8:30pm
Third Street Center | Carbondale, CO
FREE EVENT
More info at aspenwords.org
Questions or requests for interviews can be directed to:
Caroline Tory
Program Associate of Marketing & Communications
Aspen Words | The Aspen Institute
[email protected]
Phone: 970-925-3122 ext 3#
Click here to download the press release.
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