Legends of the Poetry Slam with poet and novelist Danny Solis

Legends of the Poetry Slam with poet and novelist Danny Solis Article by James Navé Twice 5 Miles Radio welcomes poet and novelist Danny Solis to the microphone. In this interview titled Legends of the Poetry Slam, Danny Solis speaks at length about the legendary spoken-word poets who experimented, invented, and defined the Poetry Slam. You might be wondering. How does a poet become legendary in the Poetry Slam? Danny Solis is qualified to tell the story because he is indeed one of the Poetry Slam legends. Of course, Danny wasn't the only one; many poets contributed to what became an international phenomenon that continues to this day. In this interview, Danny offers the idea that participation, generosity, and mentorship are the reasons why one becomes legendary in a chosen genre, especially in the Poetry Slam community. If you didn't know, the Poetry Slam is a performance poetry competition that requires poets to perform their work for five judges, arbitrarily chosen from the audience. The judges score the poets 0-10 like a diving match. Each poet has a three-minute limit. When the poet leaves the stage, the emcee, otherwise known as the slammaster, asks the judges to raise their scoreboards: 7.1 -7.7 - 8.5 - 9.3 - 9.4. The scorekeeper drops the high and low score and keeps the middle three: 7.7 - 8.5 - 9.3 for a total score of 25.5, out of a possible 30. The poet who has the highest score at the end of the competition wins the Poetry Slam. Prizes range from bragging rights to $5000, depending on the venue. As Danny said, participation, generosity, and mentorship are why poets become legends of the Poetry Slam. The Poetry Slam, led by Marc Smith, emerged from experimental Chicago poets in the mid-80s. By 1992, the Poetry Slam had expanded beyond Chicago to New York, San Francisco, Boston, Ann-Arbor, Asheville, and beyond. I first met Danny in 1992 at the National Poetry Slam Championships held in Boston. Danny was on the Boston Slam Team; I was on the Asheville Slam team. Our Asheville Slam team fell to the wayside in the early rounds, sniff, sniff. However, Danny's Cantab Lounge Boston Slam Team won the Nationals year. Even in those early days, Danny was legendary for starting his poems in the back of the room, performing them down the aisle, and stepping on stage with the audience firmly in his hand. As the years continued, Danny was on eight National Poetry Slam teams in this order: Boston, 1992 - Asheville, 1994, 1995 - Austin, 1996 - Albuquerque 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. Danny was on two winning National Poetry Slam teams, Boston in 1992 and Asheville in 1995. In 2008, Danny was on the International Poetry Slam (Oxford England, 2008) with Beau Sia, Queen Sheba, and Taylor Mali. Well, gentle reader, as you can see, Danny's contributions to the Poetry Slam Community ripple in all directions. Today, Danny is still at it performing, teaching, writing, and showing up when needed anywhere, anytime. Yes, you can bet your bottom dollar, Danny Solis indeed belongs in that magic circle of poets who are the Legends of the Poetry Slam. Enjoy listening to the interview. Please share it with your friends.