Tuesday, February 14, 2012

James Coppoc brings his performance poetry to Cheyenne during Poetry Out Loud competition



The 2012 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition will take place March 5-6 in Cheyenne. Sixteen student competitors and their teachers are expected, the largest slate for the Wyoming competition since its inception in 2006. Out-of-state guest judge this year is James Coppoc.

Coppoc, a poet, spoken-word artist and musician from Ames, Iowa, teaches English and American Studies at Iowa State University and creative writing in the low residency M.F.A. program at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Balancing poetry, pedagogy, play writing, music and performance in his varied career, Coppoc’s publications include Manhattan Beatitude, 1997 (One Small Bird Press, 2010), Reliquary (Fractal Edge Press, 2010), and Blood, Sex & Prayer (Fractal Edge Press, 2005). Coppoc received four Pushcart Prize nominations in 2011. 

Coppoc will give a public workshop on Sunday, March 4, from 2-4 p.m. at the Laramie County Library, focusing on bringing out the musicality in poems. Anyone interested in writing and performing poetry is welcomed to attend.

The Poetry Out Loud competition begins at 7 p.m. at the Historic Atlas Theater in downtown Cheyenne. Joining Coppoc as judges are Pat Frolander, Wyoming Poet laureate from Crook County, and writer and arts educator Diane Panozzo from Tie Siding, Wyo. It’s free and open to the public. Come out and see some great poetry recitation by some talented high schoolers from around the state.

Video: James Coppoc will be the guest poet for Wyoming's Poetry Out Loud state competition March 4-6 in Cheyenne. In the spirit of POL, here he's performing Miguel Pinero's "Lower East Side Poem." 

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