Westchester Community College Poetry Slam Team wins 2006 New York City Inter-collegiate Poetry Slam Championship!

The 20005-2006 team poets are Andres Alvarez, Ryan Banga, Devin Blanchard, Timothy Brown, Lawrence Cobb-El, Frank Parelli, and Dawid Rarowski.  In the NYC Slam finals, held at the Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan, the Westchester Community College team went up against the two other finalist teams, NYU and Queensborough Community College.  During the year, the Westchester Community College team also competed against slam teams from Monticello College, Oneonta College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, NY Tech, Brooklyn College, Kings College, and the New School.  Bob Holman, Emmy award winning poet and proprietor of the Bowery Poetry Club, commented on Westchester Community College’s win, "I am not a bit surprised. Westchester Community College grows great poets, in fact is becoming known as The Poetry College!"

College poets meet regularly to workshop poems and exchange ideas. Team members field new work at New York City and Westchester area open mics. The slam team competes each month in the New York City Inter-collegiate Poetry Slam held at the Bowery Poetry Club.  The team has held first place in the New York City Inter-collegiate Slam.  Individual team members have received first place prizes for highest scoring poet at slam events.  Because of the team’s respected reputation, members have appeared as featured poets at a number of New York area reading series, like the New Phoenix Reading Series in Tribeca.

Interested in joining the slam team?  Want more information?