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.

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.

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.

This week’s feature on the Kzoo Poetry Slam-cast is the superbly talented Cassie Poe from Detroit. This is what I like to call a “dessert-first” episode, one of those rare occasions when our feature had to be back on the road for reasons that I can’t remember because it was twenty damn years ago and probably wasn’t any of my business anyway. So you’ll be hearing Cassie’s feature set first followed by the slam.

Except for my slam spiel at the beginning, this week’s episode is all feature and no filler. . . Sonya Renee ( https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/ ) winner of the 2004 National Individual Poetry Slam, 2005 DC/Baltimore Grand Slam, and 2006 Four Continents International Slam.

David Blair (1967-2011) Musician, singer, songwriter, poet, friend. . . Put simply, Blair was one of the best of us, as an artist and as a human.

The 2006 Kzoo Poetry Slam Team, Kirk Latimer, Gabriel Giron, Sarah Lawrence, Leigh Fryling and Drachen Birch, take over the show before their journey to the National Poetry Slam in Austin Texas.

It’s time for another musical interlude. In this NO-POETRY EPISODE of the Kzoo Poetry Slam-Cast, singer songwriter Sheri Streeter plays a set of acoustic originals. . . I’m also happy to report that Sheri is still out there making music in Louisville Kentucky. You can find Sheri Streeter online in the usual places: iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube, etc.