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KZOO POETRY SLAM-CAST

KZOO POETRY SLAM-CAST

By: Tracey Smith
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The Kalamazoo Poetry Slam was founded in 1998. Our goal was to bring a community together, to promote and celebrate the art of poetry through performance. Our primary venue was Kraftbrau Brewery where we thrived for eight years. Each show consisted of an open-mic, a slam competition (where poets perform original works and volunteer judges from the audience score them on a scale from 1-10), and a feature artist. Feature artists were sometimes local poets or musicians, but more often than not, poets on tour from other cities around the U.S. For nine years Kalamazoo sent a team of poets to the National Poetry Slam. We also helped to found a Midwest Poetry Slam League, and one of our former team members, Dawn Saylor, appeared twice on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. After more than twenty years, over 150 hours of recordings from our archive are being presented in podcast form.

All rights reserved. Art Entertainment & Performing Arts
Episodes
  • 172. DERYK “DIRTY” SOULE

    172. DERYK “DIRTY” SOULE
    Mar 31 2026

    We end things back where we started. Deryk Soule opened Dirty’s Outhouse Poets’ Café in the mid 1990’s, a place for burnout boomers, angsty gen-Xers, assorted misfits and wanderers to gather, over caffeinate and express themselves. Without it, there never would have been a Kzoo Poetry Slam.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • 171. MARIA McCRAY

    171. MARIA McCRAY
    Mar 24 2026

    A former U.S. Marine, teacher, mentor, member of eight consecutive Chicago slam teams, honorary godmother to a generation of slam poets and one of the most incredible women to ever grace the Kzoo slam stage; there was no one more beloved and respected than Mama Maria McCray.
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    35 mins
  • 170. SCOTT WOODS

    170. SCOTT WOODS
    Mar 17 2026

    Of all the people I’ve met during my poetry slam years, there is no one I respect and admire more than Scott Woods. This week’s episode is all Scott Woods. . . You’re welcome.



    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/kzoo-poetry-slam-cast/donations
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    24 mins
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