The 25th Annual National Poetry Slam - Overview

Folks! Don't delay, GET YOUR FESTIVAL PASSES or at least finals tickets TODAY, before they sell out! http://bit.ly/NPS14tickets You do know about The National Poetry Slam, right? For one week this summer hundreds of premier performance poets from North America will converge on Oakland for a festival of words that includes competition, educational workshops, and community outreach events. This August is the 25th Annual NPS and it's going to be epic (and sonnet and and haiku and pantoum and villanelle too). Nationals is going down Tues 8/5 through Sat 8/9 at venues all over downtown Oakland. IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS, FAMILY MEMBERS OR ACQUAINTANCES THAT YOU FEEL WOULD BE INTERESTED IN NPS, PLEASE INVITE THEM TO THIS EVENT. CONDENSED & ABRIDGED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Monday August 4th 8pm-Midnight Welcome Party / Last-Chance Slam Tuesday August 5th 9:00am-9:45am Yoga with Ekabhumi 10am-11:30 H2H Haiku Prelim 10am-11:30 “Shout It Out” Youth Workshop #1 10am-11:30 Rookie Open-Mic 10am-11:30 Indigenous People Noon-1:00pm Opening Ceremonies – Frank H Ogawa Plaza 1:30-3:30pm Latino@ Open Mic 1:30-3:30pm Polish Your Performance 1:30-3:30pm Button Poetry Showcase 1:30-3:30pm Youth workshop mentor follow-up 3:45-5pm AAPI Open Mic 3:30-4:30 Orientation / Pass Pick Up 7:00 – 8:30 Prelim Bouts-Early 9:00 – 10:30 Prelim Bouts-Late 11pm-1am Hip Hop HQ 11pm-1am Slam Masters Slam! 11pm-1am Gender Outlaws 11pm-1am Trivia Night Wednesday August 6th 9:00-9:45am Yoga with Ekabhumi 10am-11:30 “Shout It Out” Youth Workshop #2 10am-11:30 Twelve Tribes Reading 10am-11:30 Volunteer Reading 10am-11:30 New Sh!t Show 11:45am-1:15 Take a Hike… around beautiful lake Merritt 11:45am-1:15 Slam This! NPS B-ball Tournament-prelim 11:45am-1:15pm Deepening The Craft: A writing workshop series 1:30-3:30 Polish Your Performance 1:30-3:30 Queer Open Mic 1:30-3:30 H2H Haiku Prelim #2 1:30-3:30 Youth workshop mentor follow-up 3:45-5:00 Love. Always. Showcase 3:45-5:00 Self-defense through boundary setting 7:00 – 8:30 Prelim Bouts-Early 9:00 – 10:30 Prelim Bouts-Late 11pm-1am Erotica Slam and Dirty Haiku Battle 11pm-1am The Lit Slam! 11pm-1am Recovery Reading 11pm-1am Karaoke! Thursday August 7th 9:00-9:45am Yoga with Ekabhumi 10am-11:30 “Shout It Out” Youth Workshop #3 10am- 11:30 Page to Stage to Screen: Defining the Cinematic Poem 10am-11:30 ASL Reading 10am-11:30 Grief and Remembrance 11:45am-1:15pm Ableism 101 Workshop 11:45am-1:15pm Take a Hike… around beautiful lake Merritt 11:45am-1:15pm Slam This! NPS B-ball Tournament – Semis 11:45am-1:15pm Deepening The Craft: A writing workshop series, Cinematic Poetry With Brandon Maurice William 1:30-3:30 Polish Your Performance 1:30-3:30 Penmanship Books Showcase 1:30-3:30 Contemporary Queer Poetics 1:30-3:30 Youth workshop mentor follow-up 3:45-5:00 Nerd Slam 3:45-5:00 Disability, Visible and Invisible Illness Open Mic 7:00 – 8:30 Prelim Bouts-Early 9:00 – 10:30 Prelim Bouts-Late 9:00 – Midnight Tourettes Without Regrets 11pm-1am Take Back the Night Women’s Open-Mic 11pm-1am Decathlon Slam 11pm-1am Board Game Night Friday August 8th 9:00-9:45am Yoga with Ekabhumi 10am- Noon “Shout It Out” Youth Workshop #4 10am- Noon Slam Masters Meeting 10am- Noon Music Fanatics Slam! 11:45am-1:15pm Take a Hike… around beautiful lake Merritt 11:45am-1:15pm Slam This! NPS B-ball Tournament – Finals 11:45am-1:15pm Deepening The Craft: A writing workshop series 1:30-3:30 Chocolate City 1:30-3:30 Make Noise! Social Justice Open Mic 1:30-3:30 Mommas and Poppas 1:30-3:30 Youth Mentor Follow up # 4 3:45-5:00pm H2H Haiku Finals 8:00 – 10:00 Semi-Finals 11:00pm – 1am Group Piece Finals Saturday August 9th 10:00-11:30am Youth Showcase 10:00am-Noon Slam Family Meeting, Hotel Ballroom noon-3:00pm Slam Family Picnic/Panthers in the Park 12:30-2:00pm Quiet Lightning 3:00-5:00pm Legends Showcase 8:00-10:00pm Finals 11:00pm-1:00am After-Party