Saturday, November 15th, 2007 4pm– 7 pm, 501 Studios, 501 Brushy Street, Austin

AUSTIN CITY-WIDE UNDER 21 POETRY SLAM KICKS OFF SEASON #7 Presented by the Texas Youth Word Collective

Change: It has been the clarion call of this year; generational change. So too it is with the City Wide. The City Wide is moving to a new home, a youth and performance friendly home, more centrally located and accessible. Our new home is the 501 Studios, a block east of the IH-35 freeway and a block south of Sixth Street. We have the Austin Slam Pappy, Mike Henry, Grand Poobah of the National Poetry Slam to thank for our new home. Moving is always a strain. But even a new home has one thing that can never be lost: family.

Change is hard. This summer, a youth, one of the founders of the Austin City Wide youth poetry slam, three time member of the Austin Under 21 Slam Team and two time City Wide champion, 20 year old Shannon Leigh died, leaving a huge sense of loss in the Austin poetry slam community and the poetry community nationwide. She is survived by her mother, Dr. Sheila, Co-Director of the Texas Youth Word Collective. They believed that our youth are essential to the survival, growth and prosperity of all of our futures. The City Wide was her, is her. For this reason, to pay homage to a young person that was the example and a trailblazer for how writing and performance could lift the lives of others, this 2008-2009 City Wide Youth Poetry Slam season is dedicated to this vibrant young woman.

This is consistent with the dedication made to her at Brave New Voices last summer in Washington, D.C., the National Poetry Slam in Madison, Wisconsin, the Nuyorican in New York, Art Amok in Atlanta, Georgia, Neo Soul Poetry Slam here in Austin, and her first home, her cradle, the Austin Poetry Slam. We encourage youth to come to the City Wide this year and honor the spirit of what Shannon stood for: freedom, expression, courage, dedication and compassion. May their words, and the audience that hears them, breath her voice.

So, we invite you to come help us launch this, our 7th season of the City Wide Under 21 Poetry Slam. See what all the excitement is about and be inspired by the voices and leaders of tomorrow. Those participants between the ages of 13 and 19 will be eligible to compete for a spot on the team we take to Brave New Voices 2009 in Chicago. The City Wide will be followed by a beloved friend of the youth slam, Love Robinson’s Make It Wet Spit Fest. Please come for a night of stirring, thought-provoking poetry.

This project is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

CONTACTS:
Ron Horne (512) 632-5033, Co-Director
Dr. Sheila Siobhan (512) 422-6653, Co-Director
E-Mail: u21slam@yahoo.com
Website: www.txywc.org