Somethin' New!

Hey guys, congratulations again on yesterday's exceptional performances at the Urban Word Preliminiaries. Not in a thousand lifetimes could I have predicted that outcome! You guys never cease to amaze me with your level of commitment and sacrifice for your craft and for each other. Simply impressive.

Last thing...I'm quoting this last part from Fish Vargas' blog. You guys remember him right? What do you think, does this sound familiar, relevant? Let me know...

"I have been facilitating workshops for various organizations for about 1 solid year now. So far the bulk of my teachings have been with Urbnan Word Nyc. If you don't know who they are- you will eventually if you are a poet. They are straight leading the way in performance/slam/poetry in NYC for the teen sector.

Last night I go through my freshly stolen books of poetry. I want to pick out a poem or two to take to my class. I did something completely new to me. I went for the good poetry factor. I usually pander to my students and get them something I know they would be interested in. This usually culminates in raps, lyrics or poems catering to something they understand or relate to. It's not easy to keep the attention of someone who is 12 - 16 years old. They are only interested in becoming a Beau Sia or Stacy ann Chin on Def Poetry. They want tp perform before they even learn to write. So of course I try to meld the two.

" If you write an awesome poem, you will be able to perform it"

Usually they just get to read from their seats. It's a battle and it's not easy. Especially when you want to reach EVERY single one of your students.Today we learn " My Mother is in Los Angeles " by Patrick Rosal for Liza Alegado. I have no clue who Liza Alegado is so can someone e-mail that info."

The original post is in the archives of his blog