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January Feature Flyer

ULIT January Featre: Marc Marcel

Marc Marcel

One of the world’s most recognized and prolific Spoken Word Artist of his generation, Marc Marcel finds it difficult to restrict himself to the labels of the art form. “It took me over a decade into my profession for me to realize poetry isn’t my gift,” Marc reveals, “Poetry is just a tool I’ve been using, to spread my gift through.”  With his many artistic attributes, if you were to categorize his efforts, a philosopher would be more fitting. 

Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, diagnosed with Dyslexia at the age of 10, Marc has far exceeded the boundaries brought on by yet another label, this early disability. Not only has he traveled the world, performing in 5 Countries, over 150 American Cities, published a Novel, ‘Saint Thomas;’ a book of poetry, ‘Unchained,’ produced 16 Spoken Word CDs, performed and/or held workshops for over 50 Colleges and Universities, (Harvard, Yale, Morehouse and the University of Florida, etc.), made 5 National Television appearances, (BETJ Lyrics Café, No Reservations, etc.), performed in front of 12,000 people for Scion Night at Knots Scary Farm, but he has also graced legendary stages such as, The Smithsonian in Washington, DC for the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Peace Ball for President Obama. 

“Funny, all that means nothing,” when asked about his massive history of work, Marc explains, “Everything I’ve ever done in my life seems like it just prepares me for the next door I’m about to enter.” 

Through his lectures and performances he captures the emotions and feelings of several subjects, everyday struggles of life, politics, love, spirituality, self-revelation and most importantly, Higher-Consciousness. “I just try to awaken people, share what I know.  I always wanted to know what we were doing here,” he admits, “I just never thought I’d find the answers.  Inspiring, candid, raw, clever, thought-provoking and entertaining are just a few descriptions of his presentations.

Marc works just as hard off of the stage as he does on it. Throughout his career he has written thousands of unreleased poems, several unreleased novels and has produced hundreds of underground tracks. Marcel lives as if his next second is the most important moment he has, and his devotion to his art is reflected in his great body of work. He is Spoken Word, at its rawest, highest level of performance!

• Author –2000 to Present

Published a novel and a book of poetry, with thousands of unreleased work

• Profession Spoken Word Artist -2001 to Present

Toured over 150 US Cities, England, Germany and the Czech Republic

• Public Speaker –2001 to Present

Spoken and hosted many engagements or events during this career

• Recording Artist -2001 to Present

Released 16 Spoken Word CD, along with hundreds of underground tracks

• Workshop Instructor –2002 to Present

Held many workshops for Universities, High School and Art Councils

• Producer –2003 to Present

Has produced his last 13 Spoken Word CDs, and production for other artists

• Actor –2006 to Present

Has acted in small roles for skits and extras

• Film Producer –2008 to Present

Has produced videos, PSA announcements and a documentary, Louder Than Life

Poets From ULIT 101: 10/26/2011

November Feature: Ms. Nterpretation

Urban LITeration is continuing to grow and expose local and national artists to the KC Spoken Word scene. On November 16, ULIT will bring St. Louis poet Ms. Nterpretation to blaze the stage at 1911 Restaurant & Lounge. Make sure you spread the word and come out to support spoken word poetry! ULIT!!!

Ms. Nterpretation

Flora D. Carson, known as Ms. Nterpretation (Ms.Nterp for short) came on the St. Louis Poetry Scene in 2000 calling herself Ms.Nterpretation because many don’t expect this soft spoken school teacher to explode on the mic as she often does.  In her words, “She always gives an interpretation for the misinterpretation of her as a person and black woman in general.” 

Hailing from East St. Louis, IL, Ms. Nterp started out writing raps and performing poems in church as a child.  She evolved into spoken word poetry in college.  As she ventured out into the world of Spoken Word via St.Louis, MO, she hit open mics, especially Legacy Books and Café where she started out.  In 2002, she entered her first slam, “May Slam Mania,” winning first place. 

As Ms.Nterp grew as an artist, she joined the Soul Vibe Poetry Collective where she traveled to New Orleans, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.  She even joined the collective on a one week tour to Canada in 2004. 

Leaving imprints on the audiences’ mind with her passion and heartfelt poetry, she has shared the stage with legends such as the Last Poets and Jessica Care Moore. This 5^th grade school teacher of 10 years is currently promoting her latest project “As a Woman Thinketh:  My Soul’s Journey Pt. 1,” and her live recording of a feature she performed at Legacy Books and Café.

Booking information: (314) 435-1605   msnterpretation1@yahoo.com

Poetry Slam Rules For 10.19.11

SLAM RULES AS ADOPTED FROM THE NATIONAL POETRY SLAM WEBSITE

1. Poems can be on any subject and in any style.
2. Each poet must perform work that s/he has created.
3. No props.
   Generally, poets are allowed to use their given environment and the accoutrements it offers - microphones, mic stands, the stage itself, chairs on stage, a table or bar top, the aisle - as long as these accoutrements are available to other competitors as well. The rule concerning props is not intended to squelch the spontaneity, unpredictability, or on-the-fly choreography that people love about the slam; its intent is to keep the focus on the words rather than objects. Refer to Section V (Definitions) for further clarification on what is and is not a prop. Teams or individuals who inadvertently use a prop (for example, a timely yet unwitting grab at a necklace) can be immediately penalized two points if the emcee of the bout deems the effect of the violation to have been appreciable, but sufficiently lacking in specific intent. A formal protest need not be lodged before the emcee can penalize a poet or team in this way, however, the decision of the emcee can be appealed after the bout. Teams or individuals whose use of props in a poem appears to be more calculating and the result of a specific intent to enhance, illustrate, underscore, or otherwise augment the words of the poem will be given a retroactive score for the poem equal to two points less than the lowest scoring poem in that bout. This deduction, which can only be applied after a formal protest has been lodged against the offending team, will not be made by the emcee, but by a special committee assembled for this purpose.
4. No musical instruments or pre-recorded music.
5. No costumes. The protest committee may apply a two point deduction for violation of the costume rule.

Sampling.

It is acceptable for a poet to incorporate, imitate, or otherwise "signify on" the words, lyrics, or tune of someone else (commonly called "sampling") in his own work. If he is only riffing off another's words, he should expect only healthy controversy; if on the other hand, he is ripping off their words, he should expect scornful contumely.

The No Repeat Rule.

A poem may be only used once during the preliminary and semi-final rounds. It may be repeated in the Group Piece Championship and the Team Finals.

The Three-Minute Rule.

No performance should last longer than three minutes. The time begins when the performance begins, which may well be before the first utterance is made. A poet is certainly allowed several full seconds to adjust the microphone and get settled & ready, but as soon as s/he makes a connection with the audience ("Hey look, she's been standing there for 10 seconds and hasn't even moved"), the timekeeper can start the clock. The poet does not have an unlimited amount of "mime time." Poets with ambiguous beginnings and endings to their performances should seek out the timekeeper at each venue to settle on a starting & ending time. After three minutes, there is a 10-second grace period (up to and including 3:10:00). Starting at 3:10:01, a penalty is automatically deducted from each poet's overall score according to the following schedule:

3:10 and under no penalty
3:10:001 - 3:20 -0.5
3:20:001 - 3:30 -1.0
3:30:001 - 3:40 -1.5
3:40:001 - 3:50 -2.0
and so on [-0.5 for every 10 seconds over 3:10]

(An additional 10 seconds is permitted in the finals without penalty.)

The announcement of the time penalty and its consequent deduction will be made by the emcee or scorekeeper after all the judges have reported their scores. The judges should not even be told that a poet went overtime until it is too late for them to adjust their scores.

Maximum Time Limit.

After four minutes, only the emcee must stop a poet from continuing to perform.

Influencing the crowd before the bout begins.

Poets are allowed to talk casually with anyone in the crowd before the bout begins (except the judges, if they have already been chosen). They are not, however, allowed to give anything to the audience or have anyone do this for them. Furthermore, inside the venue (in the presence or within earshot of the audience) they must not act in any way that would make more of an impression than another competitor waiting for the competition to begin. Poets who violate this rule will be given one warning by the emcee, bout manager, or house manager. Further violation will result in a two-point penalty for that poet’s score (or his team).

Judging.

All efforts shall be made to select five judges who will be fair. Once chosen, the judges will: 1) be given a set of printed instructions on how to judge a poetry slam, 2) have a private, verbal crash course by the emcee or bout manager on the do's and don'ts of poetry slam judging (where they can ask questions), and 3) hear the standardized Official Emcee Spiel, which, among other things, will apprise the audience of their own responsibilities as well as remind the judges of theirs. Having heard, read, or otherwise experienced these three sets of instructions, a judge cannot be challenged over a score. Complaints, problems, and/or disagreements regarding the impartiality of the judges should be brought privately to the attention of the emcee or bout manager BEFORE the bout begins. Having heard and understood the complaint, the bout manager or emcee will then make a decision (also privately) that cannot be further challenged.

Scoring.

The judges will give each poem a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest or "perfect" score. They will be encouraged to use one decimal place in order to preclude the likelihood of a tie. Each poem will get five scores. The high and the low scores will be dropped and the remaining three scores will be added together. Team scores will be displayed or otherwise publicly available during the bout.

Breaking Ties.

If, at the conclusion of all rotations in a bout a tie exists for first place, each team tied for first place shall be required to send one more poem to the stage. It may be performed by any poet or poets on the teams who are tied. Teams in the tie breaker will draw for order. Judges will listen to all poems in the tie breaker rotation and at the conclusion of all poems, will assign a rank for each poem, starting with 1 for the best poem and increasing the rank by one for each additional poem in the rotation assigning each number exactly once (1 for the best, 2 for the second best, 3 for the third, etc.). The poem with thelowest total rank wins the tie breaker, and their team wins the bout.

If this results in another tie, judge preference will be used to determine the winner. Example: In a bout with a three way tie see the table below:

Poet	Poet A	Poet B	Poet C	Preference
	1	2	3	Poet A
	3	1	2	Poet B
	2	1	3	Poet B
	1	2	3	Poet A
	2	3	1	Poet A
Total	9	9	12	Poet A Wins

Each poem performed in such a circumstance shall be subject to the “no repeat” rule. No ties for ranks lower than one shall be broken.

Normal time penalties apply but will be enforced in the following manner. Instead of a numeric half point penalty per ten seconds over time, one rank will be added for each ten seconds over time.

Poet	Poet A	Poet B	Poet C	Preference
	1	2	3	Poet A
	3	1	2	Poet B
	2	1	3	Poet B
	1	2	3	Poet A
	2	3	1	Poet A
Time Penalties			1
Total	9	9	13	Poet A Wins

This process can possibly result in a second tie in a four-way tie in that case, randomly eliminate the rank of one judge.

Ties in the Team Finals are not required to be broken. If a tie for first occurs on Finals night, the Bout Manager will confer with the coach or previously agreed upon representative for each team confidentially. If either of the teams elects to break the tie, the above is the procedure that they will use.

The same policies and procedures apply in regard to the Individual Finals in regard to which only ties for first will be eligible to be broken.

Poetry: Nairobi's Literary Gangsters

Source

By Parselelo Kantai in Nairobi


How hip-hop met the printed word across a crowded room, and gave a voice to a generation of Kenyans shocked into silence by the violence of 2008

At home on both page and stage, Kenya’s Ngwatilo Mawiyoo performs at the Poetry Africa Festival in South Africa Photo/Poetry Africa

Every first Sunday of the month, a blogger called Wamathai hosts an afternoon spoken word event at a former strip club in downtown Nairobi. He has been doing it since late 2010. Turnouts are encouraging: an average of 200 people show up – a mixed crowd, aged from 25 to 45. There is usually an accompanying band.

Wamathai got into performance ­poetry almost by accident. To commemorate a year of his creative writing blog he threw a party. Several poets showed up and everybody had such a good time that he made it a regular event. 

He talks about the poetry like an account executive describing a product launch: "We're selling it as the kind of poetry this kind of demographic can relate to. They were used to much more bourgeois fare. The way we're selling it is more contemporary. The audience is able to relate to many of the themes covered – love, life, politics and sex." 

When we caught the event at the end of August, 20 poets were performing. "There are those who mostly do it for entertainment. They are very good at freestyling and that kind of thing. But performance poetry is not just an outpost of hip-hop, it is also an extension of Shakespeare. Fifteen of my artists tonight are also published poets," Wamathai says. 

Nairobi, fad-city, where changes of scene and taste occur almost by the week, now has among its urban legends the tale of a genre whose transformation has made it almost unrecognisable from its incarnation half a decade ago. What started out as a marketing gimmick by the literary journal Kwani? quickly became a catchword with young Nairobians. Kwani?'s Open Mic sessions at Club Sound in downtown Nairobi became one of the magazine's most popular events, eclipsing literary readings in leafy suburbia. 

"Essentially, it was started by a young generation of poets, what I would call the first-media generation," says Kwani? editor Billy Kahora. "They had grown up watching 24-hour TV and listening to FM radio. This was a pop orator space." At that point it was little more than a series of animated reading sessions, but when another set of poets joined, "whose influence was American but not exactly hip-hop – a rhyming flow that also ventured into freestyling, it started to take on a life of its own," Kahora says. 
As the genre has diversified, it has been taken up by the FM radio stations and other media and has split into several distinct forms.