Old Growth Poetry Collective

08/15/2018

Hi wonderful poetry community! Update from the National Poetry Slam in Chicago: we're going to various workshops, meeting people, and we've already slammed in our first of two bouts! Thank you so much if you shared or donated to our fundraiser at all. However, unfortunately the housing and transportation back that we had lined up for one of our poets and their partner has fallen through due to unforeseen circumstances. If you could share this post and consider donating to our gofundme that would help a lot. Thank you all so much and, regardless, we're proud to be representing Olympia on a national scale!

Hi, we are four spoken word poets from Olympia, WA. Through competing in many slam competitions over the season and finally the Grand Slam, we have qualified for the National Poetry Slam, which this year will be held in Chicago, IL, August 13-18th. This will be an amazing, life-changing opportuni...

05/21/2018

Hi poetry community! Remember all those amazing poets that you've seen competing over the past months, read the poet profiles of, and witnessed the badassery of at the phenomenal Grand Slam? Well, FOUR of those amazing poets (Jasmin, Locke, Mercy and Lennee) have qualified and have the opportunity to go to Nationals, all the way in Chicago, IL! It's a giant national competition, bringing together intensely talented poets like these from all over the country, and the team is super excited to go. But, they will need some help with money for food/lodging, transportation, and registration. That's where you, the amazing community, can help! We're asking you to please share this fundraiser and donate if you can. Even a small donation or a share would be super great. As always, thank you for suporting your local arts!!

Hi, we are four spoken word poets from Olympia, WA. Through competing in many slam competitions over the season and finally the Grand Slam, we have qualified for the National Poetry Slam, which this year will be held in Chicago, IL, August 13-18th. This will be an amazing, life-changing opportuni...

05/05/2018

Get to know your Grand Slam competitors! Here's another poet profile. See you tomorrow for the big event

05/01/2018

Next poet profile! Remember to get your tickets (link is on the event page) to see this amazing poet and other amazing poets at the Grand Slam THIS SATURDAY!

Mercy Gonzales Ventura, 19 years old.
I was born in Torrence, California. I moved to Washington when I was 11 and started writing poetry shortly after. Through writing poetry, I learned that writing was one of the only ways to keep me sane. The point in my poetry these days is to keep others alive. To show them that life may suck, and it will end in death, but through the power of our thoughts and our words, our names will be immortal.

04/23/2018

Here's another poet profile! Get to know the poets performing at the Grand Slam! And remember to get your tickets (link is on the event page)

Lennée Reid is an author, activist, mystic, single mom, survivor, goddess, on the spectrum, who doesn't like labels. She is trying to make sense of it all and find peace. Lennée organizes Olympia Witches March with the Coven of the Flower of Life. She speaks about all kinds of social justice issues she is affected by including race, feminism, poverty, being a survivor and the environment. Lennée is published in; Farm to Table with The UPS Dirt! Project, Creative Colloquy, The Bus Stop Project, Tattoosday, Lost Tower, Panegyria, Works In Progress, Spectrum Women, Strangefoot, and her chapbook "Universal State of Mind", by The Girl God. Her next book "Qi Woo Mojo Juju", is forthcoming.

Lennée has slammed across the country and performed for diverse crowds at places like: The Indigenous Climate Justice Symposium, Women's March, Seattle Center for Spiritual Living, The Rachel Corrie Foundation, Rain City Slam, Seattle Poetry Slam, Olympia people's Mic, Cafe Zippy, Black Lab, St Louis Poetry Slam, Portland Poetry Slam, Des Moines Poetry Slam, Columbia Theatre, GRuB, Indigenous People's Day, Eugene Poetry Slam, and many marches and rallies. She was The Olympia Peoples Mic first WOWPS representative, opened for P***y Riot, was heard on Paradigms, Tell It Slant, and Wheel of Wonder.

Her spoken word album "The Second Coming of Matriarchy" is available at lenneereid.bandcamp.com

Follow her and her blog asliceofmysticpi

"That was like a crystal dropped in pure water that went fractal." ~ Dr. Jean Houston, co-founder of the human potential movement and author of 30+ books - after a live performance of Soul Extension 1.0

"Lennée Reid is more than a poet. She is a priestess and prophetess. One could even say that she is a religion." ~Bob McNeil, writer, spoken word artist and host of the Harlem Book Fair

04/16/2018

Third poet profile! these will continue to go up so our audience can learn more about the poets that will be in our Grand Slam!

Taylor Bereiter is a human. She identifies as a q***r trans femme poet and enjoys pondering the big questions in life like if snails enjoy the taste of salt before they die. Currently based in Olympia, Washington, she was a representative for Olympia People’s Mic at the 2017 National Poetry Slam, a finalist in the first ever Compliment Deathmatch at the 2017 National Poetry Slam, and a 2017 Utah Arts Festival team poetry slam finalist and individual slam finalist. Taylor also represented Olympia People’s Mic at the 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam this March in Dallas, Texas.
Here’s a taste of her work here:
https://youtu.be/YnB9D61pXCE

04/11/2018

And here's the next poet profile! These will continue to be released so the audience can get to know the competitors in the Grand Slam!

Locke HB is a q***r nonbinary poet from Olympia. They have been doing performance poetry since middle school and attending Olympia People's Mic since November 2015. They have been a member of the Old Growth Poetry Collective since fall 2017. They write about gender, mental illness, gender, being full of rage, gender, and public transportation. They write to express themselves and in hopes that they can make other people comfortable to express themselves. They want to expand their range and do poetry in other cities.

04/06/2018

Welcome to the first of our poet profiles! We will be putting out profiles of the poets who have qualified for the Grand Slam so that our audience knows a bit about who they are!

Jasmin Osorio is a 19 year old slam poet, and this is her first competitive season. Her work is primarily introspective, and focuses on personal growth, especially around dealing with her bipolar disorder. She hopes to reduce stigma around mental illness, and is also expanding into feminist and s*x positive work.

04/02/2018

Hey Old Growth Poetry community! Come to Ben Moore's this Thursday to hear amazing Seattle poet Kay Kassirer, AND to see our Semifinal Slam! Poets who have been slamming through the second half of our season will now be competing for a spot in the Olympia Grand Slam! It's going to be a great show!!

https://m.facebook.com/events/1125462677595391?acontext=%7B"ref"%3A"3"%2C"action_history"%3A"null"%7D&aref=3&ref=page_internal

03/28/2018

Looking for something to do tomorrow? Come downtown on this rare fifth Thursday of the month to witness and/or perform in the LAST QUALIFYING SLAM OF THE SEASON!!

https://m.facebook.com/events/896189677226186?acontext=%7B"ref"%3A"3"%2C"action_history"%3A"null"%7D&aref=3&ref=page_internal

03/22/2018

Remember to show up next week at Ben Moore's on the rare 5th Thursday! It's going to be a really great show!! It's also the last open slam before our last semifinal of the season!! So get if you've been waiting to slam, now's the perfect chance! Hope to see you all there!

https://m.facebook.com/events/896189677226186?ref=page_internal&_rdr

03/14/2018

Join us on the Ides of March to be stabbed....with emotion by excellent, heartfelt poetry from our poetry community and feature Zora Seboulisa!

https://m.facebook.com/events/1526168174166796?acontext=%7B"ref"%3A"98"%2C"action_history"%3A"null"%7D&aref=98