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Printer-Friendly ModeWinter Sins slam a smashing success
February 8, 2010 —
With visibly trembling fingers shaking the page he held in his hand, Dan Schell took the stage Saturday night and recited the piece that took first place at the Cardinal Sins poetry slam.
This semester’s slam, held at the Magic Bean Café in Saginaw Township, brought out 11 poets and more than 40 listeners for a night of coffee, beer and literary camaraderie.
The prize-winning poem landed creative writing sophomore Schell a spot in the next issue of Cardinal Sins and a $50 prize.
“It’s awesome that I won. It was kind of a surprise,” said Schell. “There was a lot of talent up there tonight.”
Schell said he revised his poem a few times earlier in the week to prepare for the slam.
He added that support from his daughters, from friend and fellow poet Matt Falk and from other friends and family was very important for preparation as well.
Although he was a featured poet at a Magic Bean arts event in August 2009, Schell said that he was still nervous for Saturday’s slam. But those jitters, he said, helped him focus on his breathing.
Political science and history senior Tracy Thiel charmed the audience between readers with 30-second monologues she called “commercial breaks.”
“Do you need a blanket that doesn’t inconvenience every aspect of your life? We made one with arm holes, and they now come in several fashionable colors,” she said before bringing Falk up to the microphone.
As laughter from the audience began to calm and Falk was about to read his poem, a voice from the audience made a suggestion.
“Matt Falk needs a Snuggie with a third hole!” said third place winner Ben Champagne.
Falk took home $30 for his poem.
“I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get first,” he said. “But I lost to the best.”
Champagne was awarded $20 for third place. The first poem he recited addressed a sign familiar to most females — one asking them to dispose of personal products in the wastebasket.
The poem was read traditionally and generated some laughter.
But his second poem had a much more serious tone, emphasizing that having a repetitively structured life is “just another form of cancer.”
Many listeners, such as English freshman Jenna Engelhart, were surprised by the number of pieces (almost half) that were read rhythmatically like raps, rather than in a traditional style.
“I enjoyed how diverse it was, it was really entertaining,” she said. “I wasn’t really expecting that much rap, but it was really interesting.”
Amelia Glebocki, creative writing junior and editor-inchief of Cardinal Sins, expressed satisfaction with this semester’s turnout.
“I kind of had a feeling a lot of people would come out and participate because I was getting e-mails from people who were interested,” she said. “But I was nervous because you just never know until people actually show up.”
But with more flier advertising and a word-of-mouth campaign on Facebook and other social networking sites, the slam drew a much larger crowd than last semester, when only four poets read.
While Glebocki says she has had fun as editor this year, she looks forward to passing the torch to a new editor-inchief next semester.
Glebocki said most editorsin- chief for Cardinal Sins only keep the position for one to two years.
“I will miss it, but I’m totally ready to just be on the staff and help everyone out,” she said.