From Open Mic, To Slam, To Features: Learning When To Ascend Introduction
- El'Ja Bowens, contributing writer
- Aug 14, 2017
- 2 min read
For most writers who stumble across an open mic in their city, it becomes a great escape if you will. An area where you are not judged for the work that you do or it is a think tank for the artistic mind where ideas get shared and notebooks get filled up with new concepts that extend all the way to the last pages. But for some, it happens. The times when your work has begun to take root and now has become more then you've realized.
While most folks just tend to stay at the open mics and just share their work, others are lucky to be called upon for something more than that. At a point, there may be someone who sees you constantly belting out, great poem after poem and decides to come to you towards the end of the 15 minutes of sharing to say, "Hey, I would like for you to feature at my event" or "Hey, have you ever thought about joining a slam team". These are the questions I've had asked to me throughout a 10 year career span since I came into the Fayetteville Poetry Scene in 2007. Even though most paths are different, I can only give you my take on this "ascension" if you will through the stages of Open Mics, to then features/hosting, and then through competing on a local, regional, and national scale. If this beginning introduction has got you interested in wanting to know the triumphs and pitfalls of such a thing as this, then stay tuned for whats to come in this three part series. I look forward to sharing this tidbits of information to you as it will help you decide whether or not this is something you see yourself doing as a hobby or as a career.
El'Ja Bowens is a poet, author, and motivational speaker. He is best known for his work, So Many Things to Say: A Collection of Poems. Bowens has performed in poetry slams across the nation. He has been recognized as the first North Carolina poet to compete and win three poetry slams in three different cities (Fayetteville, Charlotte, and Durham). He was been nominated as the Spoken Word Artist of the Year. He is the recipient of the 2016 Rising Star Male Poet Award for North Carolina and the 2016 GANSPA award. Bowens is one of the founders and the director of the Southeastern Regional North Carolina Festival held in Fayetteville, NC.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eljapoetry/
Twitter & Instagram: @eljapoetry
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