Rhymes for a Reason - Staten Island Poets with Dreams
Every month we get a chance to visit one of our favorite shops 'Richmond Hood Co' and check out an event that always leaves a mark on our soul. The Advanced Poetry Slam team have made a lot of progress in the last year. They have been working so hard and now have the opportunity to go to NYC Nationals in Atlanta. These poets have been consistent in bringing the community together and making Staten Island less forgotten by the day. Read more about the poets below and join them as they actively chase their dream.
Stereotype Co is a proud sponsor of the Advanced Poetry Slam team.
Source 'Advanced Poetry Slam Indiegogo Page' https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/send-the-advanced-slam-team-to-nationals#/
The Richmond Hood Advanced Slam Team, Staten Island, NY, is the first-ever team from NYC's Borough No. 5 to compete in a National Poetry Slam competition.
The $3500 we hope to raise will cover transportation, lodging, food, and other expenses related to the National Poetry Slam, Decatur, Georgia, August 1st-August 6th. Your support will allow the poets to focus more on honing their performance poetry and hopefully, making it to the semi-finals.
About the Poets
Eric Alter is a poet who wrestles with identity and truth; tries to make them submit themselves to a laugh or a gasp from the audience. He is backed by the full credit and standing of Long Island University and holds a M.F.A. in Creative Writing. He is also a 77.4 ton Sherman tank, editor of NYSAI press and a bass player in the band Giga Herbs.
Julie Bentsen is an ongoing student of dreams and the Unconscious, as well as the prose editor for NYSAI magazine. She regularly reads at Staten Island's Advanced Slam, and has featured at The Parkside Lounge and Hell Phone for Great Weather for Media. Her work focuses on the horrors of our psychopathic corporate nightmare, our collective disconnect from ourSelves, and the limitations of our perception of reality. She is also a visual artist enjoys creating live art to live poetry, and has done so for 3Po3try NYC: Raining Words at the Pomegranate Gallery, Art for Poetry's Sake at Deep Tanks Studios, and the LUMEN Art Festival.
Thomas Fucaloro is an NYC poet. He has 2 books out by Three Rooms Press. His latest one, “It Starts from the Belly and Blooms” has received rave reviews. He has graduated with an MFA at the New School for Creative Writing. He is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI press. He is a writing coordinator at the Harlem Children’s Zone. He just recently won a performance grant from the Staten Island Council of the Arts and the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs. His new chapbook "Mistakes Disguised as Stars" by Tired Hearts Press was released in March and his latest chapbook "Depression Cupcakes" was released in June through "Yes, Poetry."
Jessica “Morningstar” Kratz is a literary artist who grew up among the historic treasures and natural wonders of Staten Island, NY. Equally at home hiking through the forest or jotting down her thoughts inside the pages of a marble notebook, Jessica has compiled two chapbooks, Sky Voyages (2003) and Slices of the Big Apple: New York as I Know It (2007), along with two children’s books Sleigh Bells in Springtime: Frogs Calling(AuthorHouse, 2010) and The Lucky Lighthouse (Boulevard Books, late 2016). When not writing or exploring nature, she can be found donning a fitness tracker and finding out the metrics to her cardio, weights, and plyometrics.
Nick Yuk writes about depression and the struggles of his life. When not writing his heart on paper, napkins, or empty beer boxes, he spends his time cooking and creating new euphoric sensations via taste. He is an organizer for Rock Slam in Nyack, NY.
The perks packages leverage the talent of the Advanced Slam poets as well as the generosity and the Shaolin swagger of the Richmond Hood Company and its stylish and talented owner, Tariq Zaid. Support your local slam team in style, with an Advanced lapel pin, a must-read chapbook, discounts to the Richmond Hood Company store- and more.
If we do not reach our entire goal, some of us may be sleeping on the floor, but we'll still be competing in Atlanta, and any funds raised will support the Advanced Slam Team and the Advanced series of poetry readings and competitions.
The Impact
Slam is the fastest-growing literary movement in the United States, and your support promotes a movement, promotes performance poetry, and supports an emerging arts scene and civic pride for Staten Island.
Members of the Advanced Slam Team are well-educated, established musical, visual, performing, and literary artists, with a diverse array of successful endeavors, such as children's books, rock band performances, collaborative visual art and poetry performances, chapbooks, and spoken word performances in a variety of venues.