In the poetry slam world, I think there's a huge skill gap between the average slammer and high level competitors.  In fact, there's an inordinate amount of people who are merely "above average," despite being "professionals," a term I use loosely.  Talking to most consistent, high-finishing competitors, they've noticed it too.  Why do you think ( Read more... )

From the Introduction of "Best American Short Stories 2005"

Entertainment has a bad name. Serious people, some of whom write short
stories, learn to mistrust and even to revile it. The word wears spandex,
pasties, a leisure suit studded with blinking lights. It gives off a whiff of
Coppertone and dripping Creamsicle, the fake-butter miasma of a ( Read more... )

The Loneliest Job in the World
By Tony Hoagland

As soon as you begin to ask the question, Who loves me?
you are completely screwed, because
the next question is How Much?

and then it is hundreds of hours later,
and you are still hunched over
your flow charts and abacus,

trying to decide if you have gotten enough.
This is the loneliest job in the world:
to be ( Read more... )

I'm slowly going bald.  This saddens me.

Thank god I shave my head in the summer.

Though I thought the Beauty vs. Brawn side event, which pitted teams of nine men and women against each other, would've gone against the spirit of an all-women national event. In fact, the side event was approached with such an ironic sense of cutthroat passion that it was impossible not to laugh and enjoy the sense of community. The poetry was ( Read more... )

Tonight is my last night in Austin, TX., and I am sad to be going.  I love
( Read more... )

On February 5th, I'll be speaking at an Asian-American leadership conference at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.  They've asked me to give a commencement speech about the need to increase social awareness and activism, and the speech is supposed to psych up the high school senior / college freshmen crowd for a day of workshops.

I have ( Read more... )

A poet recent e-mailed me with an interesting slam puzzle.

1)  8-person bracket format slam using a flag scoring system, that is, judges vote for their favorite poet rather than give a score.

2)  In the first round, poets are randomly paired up and slam head-to-head.  EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION:  Losers ARE NOT DROPPED.

3)  In the second round, the ( Read more... )

After prelims ( Read more... )

A pretty flattering article about me in the Georgetown Voice.

There are some minor inaccuracies, such as my degree and what I attribute my slam success to:

He attributes his success to intentionally ignoring the competition.

“Lately, I’ve been undefeated in money tournaments and I think the best thing for [my writing] is not writing for the ( Read more... )