2014 Rhythmic Cypher Slam Team

Dylan Collins, Grand Slam Champ Princess Jones, Generalissimo, Sophi Gracia & Ryan McLeod

New Location

HEY THERE!!

Are you wondering where we moved to?

We are now back to our weekly show at the Meg Perry Center – 36 Market Street, Portland, Maine

Rhythmic Cypher will drop to a MONTHLY show!!!

Please note that during the month of March and potentially longer, Rhythmic Cypher will be dropping down to a monthly show.

We will hold our regular slam still EVERY 4TH SUNDAY AT DOBRA TEA.

We are on the hunt for a new location for our weekly show on Sundays.  If you have an all ages (preferably sober space) venue with a 65 + capacity that is walking distance from the arts district or know anyone who does, please let us know.

Contact: Tina Smith at tnsmith09@gmail.com

 

Thank you for all your support, Poetland!!  You helped us outgrow Dobra Tea!

UPDATE: The results of our recent slam qualifiers

It’s been a busy month for us here at Rhythmic Cypher!!  We’ve been slamming and qualifying poets for regional and world slams.

In February 2013, Rhythmic Cypher will send the following team to represent us at the NorthBeast Win & Your In tournament in Manchester, NH.  Our regionals team includes returning members Dylan Collins and T Love Smith as well as new members, Evah Hellewell, Dan Barabash and Ryan McLeod.  Last year the RC team took first place in the tournament.  We wish them success this year as well.

In March 2013, T Love Smith will represent RC at the Women of the World Poetry Slam in Austin, TX.  Good luck, T!

The 2013 Greatest Hits Slam

Congratulations to the following poets for writing and performing the top scoring poems of 2013!!

These poets will move on to the Greatest Hits Slam on Sunday, December 22nd.  In this slam there will only be one round.  Poets can use any poem from the Top 40.  The time limit is 3 minutes.  Point deductions will happen after a 10 second grace period beyond 3 minutes.

The top 5 poets will go on to represent Rhythmic Cypher at the 2014 NorthBeast W&YI Regional Slam in Manchester in February.  The Regionals team will practice once a week for the weeks leading up to the slam.

 

Notes:

Due to a tie, we will take 11 poets into the Greatest Hits Slam

Poets may only use poems from the 2013 Greatest Hits Top 40  (see link below)

https://poetrising.wordpress.com/rc-greatest-hits-top-40-2013/

1.  Evah 

(Straight Girl, Angel Face, Mind Wanderer, Hearing and Sexy)

 

2.  Wellman

(Facebook Friend, Fireworks, Information Propagate, Co-Worker, Hippies, New Love Poem)

 

3.  Alina

(How I Came Out, Beauty Beast, Coming Out, Sestina for Lost Love)

 

4.  TLove

(Ants, Sugar’s Free, Say Poetry)

 

5.  Jenn C.

(Tolanda, God as a Poet, Health Class, 3 Genders, First Year Teacher, Best Lover, Father/Parent, Schitzo)

 

6.  Robin Merrill

(Cut, Oral Sex, Word Slut, Daydream)

 

7.  Dylan

(Funeral, Tree Fort, Life Lessons, Kneeling in Dirt)

 

8.  Arwyn

(Thinspiration, When I Love You, Mother)

 

9.  Greg

(Snaps, Self-Defense, Batman)

 

10.  Jenny

(Mother, Blanky, Tell Me I’m Beautiful, Why Have I Never Been)

 

11.  Dan

(Zombies, Jukebox, Man-made Canyon)

The 2013 RC Slam Team

Arwyn Sherman is originally from California but has found Maine more suitable for their tastes due to their extreme fondness of snow angels and flannel. Although they have won slams at their school and competed in finals at Rhythmic Cypher, they consider their greatest poetic achievement to be when they were seven at girl scouts camp and their poem was selected to be read to the entire group. It was about the night sky and aliens in space, which they were obsessed with until they hit the age of twelve and realized the aliens were inside of them. Afterwards, the ones in space just didn’t seem that interesting anymore.

 

2013 RC Slam Team…

T Love Smith

is founder of the three-year running, weekly poetry open mic with musical accompaniment, Rhythmic Cypher (HOME OF THE 207 3-2-1- SLAM) in Portland, Maine which features local, regional and national performance poets, musicians and the occasional travelling circus.

TLOVE was published by Moon Pie Press in 2011 in an anthology, Passion and Pride:  Poets supporting Equality with New England Poet Laureates, Betsy Sholl, Bruce Spang, John-Michael Albert, Martin Steingesser and Annie Finch, Pat Smith Ranzoni, and many other great local poets.

TLove is also a teaching poet who offers performance poetry at local schools and community spaces.

Contact:

Tina Smith, tnsmith09@gmail.com

 

 

The 2013 RC Slam Team…

Happy Birthday, gaelle robin!!!!

Member of the 2013 Rhythmic Cypher Slam Team, gaelle win robin is a queer writer & printer from a small town in the crossroads of rural maine invested in creating safer spaces, empowering alliances, and intentional communities.  they have self-published three chapbooks: ad nauseum, harbors, and nightmares (split with kristina buckley).  when gaelle is not playing the part of worker-owner at local sprouts cooperative, pressperson at poet rising project, and contributor at comehell.wordpress.com, they hide in the corners of time catching up on sleep, dreaming, climbing things, collecting trinkets and treasures, exploring small spaces, thinking about obscurities, huddling, feeling, observing, and praising natural light.

COMEHELL.WORDPRESS.COM

RESURGAMRECORDS.COM

CARGOCOLLECTIVE.COM/GAELLEROBIN

The 2013 RC Slam Team…

Matthew Wellman

is an artist, musician, and performance poet living in Portland, ME his most recent project is a performance art/poetry/music project called Information Concentrate dealing with technology and the human condition. He is on the 2013 Rythmic Cypher Slam team and is the first-ever Rhythmic Cypher Individual World Slam Rep for 2013.  He could not be more happy after finding such an amazing group of artists in such a wonderful Community. “We have no limits except those we create for ourselves.”

The 2013 RC Slam Team…

For the next few weeks, The Poet Rising Project will be highlighting one member of the team each week leading up to the National Poetry Slam.  Our hope is you will like our team so much you will want to celebrate them by making a financial contribution to help send them off the the National Poetry Slam in Boston NEXT MONTH!!!!

Introducing….

Robin Merrill  

is a Maine-based freelance writer/editor. Current clients include Bible League International, World Outreach International, and Tangerine Press, an imprint of Scholastic.

She has written five children’s books, all available through Scholastic. Two poetry collections have been published by Moon Pie Press. Her poems, short stories, articles, and essays have appeared in hundreds of publications, including The Cafe Review, Ledge Magazine, Margie, Pearl, Spoon River Poetry Review, and Stolen Island Review. Three of her poems have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor.

She has her MFA from Stonecoast and frequently leads creative writing workshops for writers of all levels and  has featured at dozens of venues all over New England and New York.