IWPS 2014 Season Rankings

We have completed 18 slams of the 20 slam IWPS 2014 Season. The top 20 poets of the season will be invited to compete in the Semifinals September 4th, 2014 at Space 55 and The Trunk Space (TSpace not confirmed yet). Finals will be Saturday, September 6th. Hosts and scorekeepers get .25 of a point. Calibration and sorbet poets get .25pt. Poets cannot earn more than 4pts for the season from hosting, calibration, sorbet, or scorekeeping. All competing poets earn 1pt. Third place is worth 2pts. Second place is worth 3pts. First place is worth 4pts. 1) Beth May 24pts 2) Eirean Bradley 22.75pts 3) The Klute 21pts 4) Myrlin Hepworth 18pt 5) Tristan Marshell 18pts 6) Lauren Perry 16pts 7) Jeremiah Blue 15pts 8) Elijah Pierson 15pts 9) Joy Young 14pts 10) Lucas Graff 12pts 11) Randy Morris 11pts 12) Richard Morris 11pts 13) Aaron Burch 11pts 14) Emily Cimino 11pts 15) Eric Meyers 11pts 16) Frankie Marchi 9.25pts 17) Gene Miller 8pts 18) Randy Heflin 7pts 19) Tara Cantrell 7pts 20) Valence 7pts Andrew Jones 4pts Clipper Arnold 4pt Isaac 3pts Patrick Duhaine 3pts Willie Whitmire 4pts Aaron Hopkins-Johnson 3.50pt Adriana Delgado 3pts Alex Korsick 2.25pt Carlos Bencourt 2pts Claire Hardi 2pts Ben McCutchen 2pt Bill Campana 2pts Morgan Ruler 2pts Grayson 2pts Hattie Jean Hayes 1.50pt Obadiah 1.25pt Kiran Dunavant 1.25pt Amanda LaCasse 1.25pt Mark Schaefer 1pt Riayn Guinan 1pt Molly Bilker 1pt Aaron Jay 1pt Devin Beck 1pts Season 1pt Verlie Seneyk 1pt Vincent Ruiz 1pt Natalie Cole 1pt Mark Schaefer 1pt Rivka Rocchio 1pt John A Graves 1pt Ben Jammin' 1pt Kayree 1pt Sydney 1pt Bevin 1pt Charles Levett 1pt Matthew Brady 1pt Drake 1pt KJ 2pt Dallas 1pt Rowie Shebala 1pt Alexa 1pt Jennifer 1pt Keena Thrasher 1pt Jason 1pt Red 1pt Biz 1pt (Last updated on 8/16/14) There will be two semi finals of ten poets each on September 4th. Poets will be ordered from lowest ranking poet to highest ranking poet for the first round at the semi-finals, with the highest ranking poet closing out the first round at one semi-final bout, while second highest ranking poet closing out the first round at the other semi-final bout. The semi finals will consist of a one minute poem, a two minute poem, a three minute poem, and a four minute poem. The first round will be one minute poems. The highest scoring 8 poets will advance into the second round with order to be determined from highest to lowest scores from previous round. The second round will be two minute poems. The highest 6 cumulative scoring poets will advance into the third round with order to be determined from highest to lowest scores from previous round. The third round will be three minute poems. The highest 3 cumulative scoring poets will advance into the third round with order to be determined from highest to lowest scores from previous round. The fourth round will be for four minute poems and will consist of the three top cumulative ranking poets in order of highest scoring from the previous round. THE TOP 6 POETS OF BOTH SEMIFINALS WILL BE INVITED TO FINALS The Finals will be held on September 6th (featuring 12 poets total with order rotating based on ranking from both semifinals, highest scoring poets going last, and the last poet decided by highest total score from semifinal bout) will consist of a one minute poem, a two minute poem, a three minute poem, and a four minute poem. The first round will be one minute poems. The highest scoring 8 poets will advance into the second round with order to be determined from highest to lowest scores from previous round. The second round will be two minute poems. The highest 6 cumulative scoring poets will advance into the third round with order to be determined from highest to lowest scores from previous round. The third round will be three minute poems. The highest 3 cumulative scoring poets will advance into the third round with order to be determined from highest to lowest scores from previous round. The fourth round will be for four minute poems and will consist of the three top cumulative ranking poets in order of highest scoring from the previous round. The top poet will be the official Host City Representative at the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam in Phoenix, AZ, October 8 -11th.

Purchase Tickets for the Phoenix Poetry Slam Championship 2014 at the Phoenix Center for the Arts Today!

Buy your tickets at the door for Saturday, February 15th's Phoenix Poetry Slam Championship!

FEBRUARY 15th, 7PM PHOENIX POETRY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP

✐✎✏ ✑✒✍ PHOENIX CENTER FOR THE ARTS ✐✎✏ ✑✒✍

✚ hosted by Hattie Jean Hayes

✿ ALL-AGES ✿ ADULT THEMES & LANGUAGE ✿ $10 ADMISSION

♆ASU STUDENTS $8 w/ STUDENT ID♆

A poetry slam differs from an open-mic poetry reading in a couple of different ways. Slam poets have three minutes for the reading, can use drama elements while performing and are judged by non-poets from the audience. Performers are scored on a scale of 0-10 with one decimal, just like the scoring in the Olympics, except this championship will be held at the Phoenix Center for the Arts in downtown Phoenix, AZ on Saturday, February 15th, 7pm.

COMPETITORS: Aaron Hopkins-Johnson Valence Aaron Burch Eirean Bradley Frankie Marchi Emily Cimino Randy Morris Tristan Marshell Richard Morris Jeremiah Blue

Calibration poet: Tara Cantrell

Sorbet poets: Devin Beck, Lauren Perry, and Joy Young

In order to qualify for the "Golden Gnome Slamoff", poets had to compete in a series of slams prior to this one. There were 19 poets in central Arizona that fulfilled that criteria, and the top ten in rankings will compete in a three round poetry slam (with cutthroat eliminations) to determine which four poets will represent Phoenix Poetry Slam and Lawn Gnome Publishing (the home of the official weekly poetry slam) at the National Poetry Slam 2014 in Oakland, California.

Phoenix Poetry Slam Championship February 15th at Phoenix Center for the Arts!

The top ten poets as of January 17th will be eligible to compete in the GOLDEN GNOME SLAMOFF (details to be shared in a week). There will NOT be a WILD CARD SLAM this year. The top four poets of to be determined by five random judges at the GOLDEN GNOME SLAMOFF will be the official Lawn Gnome Slam Poetry Team of Phoenix, Arizona at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California (August 2014).

As of now the standings are:

1) Jeremiah Blue 29pts
2) Richard Morris 16pts
3) Tristan Marshell 10pts
4) Randy Morris 9pts
5) Emily 8pts
6) Frankie Marchi 8pts
7) Eirean Bradley 8pts
8) Aaron Burch 8pts
9) Devin (DCB) 5pts
10) Valence 5pts
Aaron Hopkins-Johnson 5pts

Poets that could squeak into the Golden Gnome Slamoff in theory:

Josh Floyd 4pts
Adriana Delgado 4pts
Rowie Shebala 2pts
Willie Whitmire 2pts
Eric 2pts
Ben 2pts
Joy Young 2pts
Tara Cantrell 2pts

Poets with one participation point

Melissa Corbin
Annie Harding
Charles Levett
Briana Welker
Kaylynne G
Sam Tidwell
Sam Hillyer
John TG
Joey
Demetrius Gunnar Burns
Rich _
Nicolaus_
Brian Maisenbacher

All slams must have at least 6 poets competing and 5 judges in order to have points count towards a season standings total. The points are allocated as follows: winning a slam is worth 4pts, taking second is worth 3pts, and being the third poet in the third round of the Lawn Gnome Publishing Thursday Slam (8pm) is worth 2pts. Participation as a calibration, sorbet, time filler, or slammer in a slam is worth one point. A poet cannot earn more than a single participation point in a slam. The host does not earn participation points. If there is a problem with the point system or a suspected discrepancy, it should be brought to the slammaster's attention up to one week of the discrepancy to keep current and to keep the event of poetry slam fun for everyone. Poets interested in slamming in the Golden Gnome Slamoff must sign the release form and return it to Lawn Gnome Publishing by 5pm January 21st. If you qualify and do not turn in the form, the next ranked poet will be offered a chance to compete.

Meet Our Resident Host: Hattie!

This year, Phoenix Poetry Slam reached out to neighboring college campus Arizona State University Walter Krankite School of Journalism to find a host for our regular slams. We were pleased to hand over the hosting reigns to the charimatic and hilarious Hattie Jean Hayes. Read below from Hattie's blog:

Meet Our Host - Hattie Jean Hayes of Arizona State University

And read what THE STATE PRESS has to say about the new slam format and peeps involved!

Phoenix Poetry Slam Rankings 2013-2014

The Slam Season 2013-2014 is almost over and the competition is stacking up! Every Thursday, at Lawn Gnome Publishing in Downtown Phoenix, poets converge in the damp backyard to breathe firewords into the night sky. The last slam for qualifying to be eligible for the Golden Gnome Slamoff is January 16th. We take the TOP TEN poets and put them in a battle for metaphorical glory. The first round's order will be determined by rankings for the slam season, with the first place poet going last. This year's Golden Gnome Slamoff will take place in an indoor venue this year, to be announced soon.

The current slam rankings (updated December 19th, 10:23pm):

1) Jeremiah Blue 19pts
2) Richard Morris 12pts
3) Emily 8pts
4) Frankie Marchi 8pts
5) Eirean Bradley 8pts
6) Aaron Burch 7pts
7) Tristan Marshell 6pts
8) Devin (DCB) 5pts
9) Randy Morris 4pts
10) Josh Floyd 4pts
11) Valence 3pts
12) Eric 2pts
13) Ben 2pts

Poets with one participation point

Charles Levett
Sam Hillyer
John TG
Joy Young
Joey Bellus
Aaron Hopkins-Johnson
Demetrius Gunnar Burns
Annie Harding
Tara Cantrell

POETS GIVING PRESENTS

The Phoenix Slam Team Raises Funds For Infinity and Beyond...

Today's Phoenix Poetry Slam at Lawn Gnome Publishing is the result of our tradition of talented hosts, amazing performers and heart-stopping performances. Each one has helped to develop the legendary Poetry Slam reputation that is associated with Phoenix's Poetry Slam scene. Every year, we send a team of the top performance poets to the National Poetry Slam. For many in the past, this event has been a building block for many great things to come. Our mission is to make this weekly event have a home in Phoenix that lasts for generations. With your help, not only can we fund this year's team, but establish the framework for many teams from our community to write, practice and compete on a national level.

Donate any dollar amount to 2013 Phoenix Poetry Slam Team!

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