The nation's largest collegiate spoken-word festival will be at UCSC in February. The Kinetic Poetics Project will present five days of activities including free performances from award winning poets, poetry workshops, and a poetry slam competition at the Porter College Dining Hall February 3-7.
This year's festival will include an appearance by author, poet, and musical collaborator Saul Williams, who is best known for his blend of poetry and hip-hop. Author of The Seventh Octave and The Dead Emcee Scrolls, Williams recently released an album in collaboration with Nine Inch Nails's Trent Reznor.
The festival will also highlight a three-day battle of original student works. The competition will be used to decide who will be part of the UCSC Poetry Team, which will compete nationally this spring to reclaim the title it won in 2005.
Other festival activities will include a recitation by Katie Wirsing, winner of the 2005 National Poetry Slam Competition and an encore presentation by the Rainbow Theatre of Poet's Corner.
"Santa Cruz has become a national epicenter for the thriving spoken word movement," said Kevin Holmes, event coproducer. "This is the sixth year that the Kinetic Poetics Project will take place in Santa Cruz, and, by all accounts, we expect this year's festival to be the best, most exciting one to date."
For a complete schedule, list of featured speakers, and workshop information, visit the the Kinetic Poetics Project web site. The festival is open to the public and is free of charge.
The 2008 Kinetic Poetics Project is sponsored by the Porter College Senate, Cowell Senate, Kresge Senate, Crown Senate, Core Council, the SUA, the Hitchcock Poetry Fund, and the Porter Creative and Innovative Fund.
