Tues., Sept. 12 - JAMAAL "VERSIZ" May

Versiz is a poet, producer, rapper and recording engineer. He has made three Detroit poetry slam teams, been named Detroit Grand Slam Champion twice, and made final stage at the last two Individual World Poetry Slams. Jamaal is A Broadside Press Jury Prize winner and a Cave Canem Fellow.

Jamaal is the only hip-hop artist to ever be featured by The Detroit Symphony Orchestra in its 91-year history.

The Michigan Daily has described him as, “Detroit’s most talented slam poet”.

The Michigan Chronicle called Versiz’ 2004 hip hop release, “A lyrically profound effort that is as provocative as it is creative.”

http://www.versiz.com
http://www.myspace.com/versizmusic

Tues., Sept. 26 - BEAR WOLF

Losing count of his tattoos after 20 and now riding a Honda because Harley has become an icon of the white upper class, Wolf is proud of his Native American (specifically Shawnee)/Central European Gypsy/Jew heritage and background.

He is a poet, musician, actor and writer who teaches
college English to pay the rent. He is an international slam poet, having been featured at several poetry/ music venues in Southern California, Las Vegas,
South Dakota, Michigan, Chicago and Toronto.

His first spoken word CD has been described as "Jack Daniels meets Shel Silverstien at a Dennis Miller
rant."

myspace.com/propagandapoet
www.poeticjusticeleague.com

Tues., Oct. 10 - Kevin Coval

Kevin Coval is the author of Slingshots (A Hip-Hop Poetica). He has performed at universities, high schools, synagogues, and theaters on four continents in seven countries and has been seen on four seasons of Russell Simmons' HBO Def Poetry Jam. Coval's writing has appeared in The Spoken Word Revolution
(Source Books), Total Chaos (Basic Civitas), Awakening The Spirit (Skylight Paths), XCP: Cross-Cultural Poetics, Chicago Tribune, Crab Orchard Review, Make Magazine, and can be heard regularly on National Public Radio in Chicago.

Founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Teen Poetry Festival, Coval is the Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors and Curator of the Chicago Hip-Hop Theater Festival. In November 2005, EM Press published, Slingshots (A Hip-Hop Poetica), Coval's first full-length book and accompanying CD, since Coval has toured the country gaining national acclaim
and critical reviews

Tues., Dec. 12

From the growing Milwaukee Poetry scene, comes two that have joined talents to bring powerful, funny, and inspiring spoken word to the world. De’Shawn Ewing (Pyramid) and Nigel Wade combine an energetic performance with a strong chemistry to form the group, “Dem Cats”. Both poets have risen to the top of the Milwaukee poetry slam scene are have now joined forces to display a combination of entertaining performance, true raw emotion, and great writing. Wait ‘til you see and hear Dem Cats!

Tues., Jan. 23 - William Evans

William Evans has been writing for several years, but only recently started performing his poetry. In a short period of time this poet has become a fixture of the poetry scene in Columbus, winning slams throughout the state of Ohio, including the Dayton Poetry Slam, the infamous Green Mill Tavern Poetry Slam (finalist), University of Dayton Litfest Slam (2nd place), the 2006 Comfest Slam (champion), and took 2nd place in the 2006 Grand Slam which earned him a spot on the 2006 Black Pearl Poetry National Slam Team that finished 3rd in the inaugural Dallas Invitational Poetry Slam.

http://www.myspace.com/williamevans3rd

Tues., Feb. 27 - Jamie Kilstein

At the age of 24 Jamie Kilstein has become one of New York City's top slam poets, and was just ranked 5th in the nation at the 2006 National Poetry slam. He is touring internationally and was recently a featured headliner at the Brighton Arts Festival in Brighton England . Jamie was also featured in the largest French Newspaper Le Monde, England's The Fringe Report and Australia's Wo! Magazine .

Tues., Mar. 13

Donielle Monique read her first poem in public eight years ago at the Writers' Block Poetry Night in Columbus, Ohio and has been attending ever since. She was a member of the 2006 Columbus National Slam Team, in which she was the Writers' Block Grand Slam Champion. She was also a member of the 2006 Rust Belt Regional Slam Team which took third place. She is currently working on her first spoken word album due to come out in the fall of 2006. Samples from her CD, "Small of My Back" can be found at:myspace.com/dmoniquespokenword

Tues., April 24- TEAM SELECTION SLAM

Derrick Brown