April is Poetry Month and Capital Area District Libraries – Downtown along with the Poetry Room is hosting the Lansing Poetry Festival this weekend and Poet Makaski Takahashi had a moment to answer some questions about what people should look forward to!
Who is invited (or should plan to attend) to the Poetry Festival at CADL this weekend?
Everyone is wanted, welcomed and invited! Just show up. It’s sponsored by MSUFCU.
What is slam poetry?
A poetry slam is a competition where poets perform their own original work in front of an audience, usually without props, costumes, or music. The format can vary, but typically each poet has a limited amount of time (often three minutes) to present their poem. After all the poets have performed, judges from the audience or a panel of judges score each performance based on various criteria such as content, performance, and originality.
Do you have to participate to attend (if people would like to listen and learn)?
Come and listen! Be part of the crowd. Be part of the community. Take as much and as little as you want.
Speaking of, where do we direct people if they would like to learn more about this event and The Poetry Room?
Visit the Facebook page – Facebook.com/The517PoetryRoom and take a look under events section.
The event takes place at CADL – Downtown on Saturday, April 27.
A workshop begins at 3pm and is folllowed by a performance at 4:15pm.
Plan on a workshop led by Richmond Poet Laureate Roscoe Burnems, followed by a poetry performance by Roscoe Burnems and poets Makaski Takahash and Becky Jensen.
To learn more about this event, visit the Poetry Festival Facebook Event
