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.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/31/4/763030c4-9493-448e-8616-398ec0fa887a_11_dirty_nov_8_2005_edit.mp3

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.

172. DERYK “DIRTY” SOULE

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/24/4/f5391994-3f01-40d9-9b28-e84678c7e8c7_momma_maria_mccray.mp3

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.

171. MARIA McCRAY

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/17/4/fae6e5b4-9d9f-4098-9649-b488c4851cb7_11_scott_woods_nov_2004.mp3

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.

170. SCOTT WOODS

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/10/4/cb37a373-d6ff-4974-ba0d-0bb7d5ff83ec_11_cassie_poe_nov_22_2005.mp3

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.

169. CASSIE POE

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/3/3/6/1d9bc3ea-1f8f-4abf-b355-577443790e2d_sonia_renee_2005.mp3

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

168. SONYA RENEE

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/2/24/5/08564e39-a212-4c64-89f9-e095f8f0e414_11_blair_nov.mp3

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.

167. BLAIR (with DALE WILLSON)

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/2/17/5/7254a573-ddc7-46fb-9215-331e0250f348_july_25th_team_2006.mp3

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.

166. KZOO SLAM TEAM 2006

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/2/10/5/cb73efba-b98e-4c8f-a378-8541eb60f823_sheri_streeter_march_2005.mp3

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.

165. SHERI STREETER

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/2/3/5/f6cf4e8b-7698-4786-af10-11773c6ace78_9_alex_charlambides_sep_13_2005.mp3

In this week’s episode you’ll hear feature poet Alex Charalambides, a team up from Kzoo Slam Team veteran Philip Miller and our One-Man De Facto House Band, Charlie Burgess. . . plus one busted cherry.

164. ALEX CHARALAMBIDES AND CHARLIE & PHILIP

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/1/27/5/dcb8dd17-d776-4ba0-984b-222011effa57_8_dawn_saylor_pt4.mp3

Finishing up part four with the second half of the slam, featuring a few familiar voices, a few new ones, and of course a short farewell feature from Dawn Saylor.

163. DAWN SAYLOR’S LAST KZOO SHOW (pt.4 of 4)

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/1/20/6/b9a52ae7-0d61-49b8-90ee-e4827ccd400e_8_dawn_saylor_pt3.mp3

Part three is the first half of the slam. You’ll hear: Dawn, Jackie, Drach, Jordan, Leagh, and Dan.

162. DAWN SAYLOR’S LAST KZOO SHOW (pt.3 of 4)

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/1/13/5/3017810e-3604-46f9-a22c-7a6319a0be02_8_dawn_pt2.mp3

Part two is the open-mic portion of the show. Dawn hosts, poet’s include Drachen Birch, Sarah Lawrence, Steve Ashby, Suzan Aiken, and a song and a half from Charlie Burgess before we ran out of recording space on the CD.

161. DAWN SAYLOR’S LAST KZOO SHOW (pt.2of4)

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/1/6/5/d7658f91-4d07-4102-9dd8-009766f64a10_8_dawn_pt1.mp3

This show, recorded in August of 2005, marks the last time Dawn Saylor featured at the Kzoo Poetry Slam. Part one begin with two head-to-head bouts: Dan Stevens vs. Dan Carroll and Leigh Fryling vs. Drachen Birch.

160. DAWN SAYLOR’S LAST KZOO SHOW (pt.1 of 4)

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/12/16/5/a70b3ecf-b514-4e19-95e2-4f157499c9c0_12_tracey_35th_pt2.mp3

The second half of my 35th birthday feature. Actually, you won’t hear any poetry from me in this half because we ran out of recording space on the disk and I can’t remember what poem I closed the show with, but you will hear a few new voices, plus: Charlie Burgess, Rose Swartz, Diana Densmore, Dan Stevens and Steve Ashby.

159. TRACEY’S B-DAY BASH pt.2

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/12/9/5/10b999ee-5d24-4ab2-a9f8-f9ec0164ef80_12_tracey_35th_pt1.mp3

Perhaps the most self-indulgent thing I did during my slam tenure (and there were a few) was featuring at my own show on my 35th birthday. In that tradition, I’m going to post this episode slightly out of order. “It was twenty years ago today . . .”

158. TRACEY’S B-DAY BASH pt.1

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/12/2/5/819ef560-d4ba-437f-887d-485a963cef1f_8_greg_bliss_pt2.mp3

We begin part two mid-slam, followed by Greg’s feature. . . I was MC’ing the slam off stage and off mic, so I increased the volume of some of the score keeping and introductions, but some were too faint and had to be cut.

157. GREG BLISS pt2

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/11/25/5/3dad453f-0327-47cd-bb21-f1243af47bc8_8_greg_bliss_pt1.mp3

When the feature that you generated press for cancels at the last minute, you call on the one guy who can bring the noise and the funk . . . and the meat-helmet. . . Greg Bliss. You’ll also get a smattering of open-mic and a little bit of slam.

156. GREG BLISS pt.1

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/11/18/5/2377c819-62d1-4745-82bb-efab3a8ac9ce_7_marry_fonz_july_2005.mp3

In this episode, just a taste of open-mic and an amazing feature poet from Chicago, Mary Fons.

155. CHICAGO POET MARY FONS

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/11/11/5/f012b977-1702-41db-918d-98a0e6aae8c1_7_team_2005_pt2.mp3

The conclusion of the 5th Tuesday Fundraiser for the 2005 Kzoo Poetry Slam Team, who competed in that year’s National Poetry Slam in Albuquerque New Mexico.

154. TEAM 2005’s 5th TUESDAY OPEN-MIC pt.2

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/11/4/5/76be8249-7ebf-43bc-bf16-28a4ab1d20c0_7_team_2005_pt1.mp3

July 2005 had five Tuesdays, so we did an extra show to raise a little scratch for our team preparing to compete at the National Poetry Slam in Albuquerque New Mexico. . . Also, we got an impromptu mini-feature from Johnathan Brown, member of the Greenville South Carolina’s 2003 Slam Team.

153. TEAM 2005’s 5th TUESDAY OPEN-MIC pt.1

Kalamazoo Poetry Slam Archive

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.