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Word Diversity Collective supports literary artists who work on the page and the stage to produce, publish, and perform a diversity of text through collaboration and cross-pollination with each other and with other creative artists through events including ART AMOK! Word Diversity Collective began as the brain child of several area leaders and began operations in Little Five Points at 7 Stages Theater. From there, we relocated to Decatur's Mocha Match and now we're at Urban Grind & partnering with 7 Stages.
~We seek to collaborate with other poets and art groups to create a city wide slam poetry scene by hosting a slam, features, themes and writing workshops.We feature traveling poets at the top of their form in spoken word or performative poetry from around the nation as well as regionally and locally in an effort to inspire, promote and invigorate newer writer performers.
~We seek to raise the funds to support sending a team selected through fair and open competition to the annual National Slam Poetry events such as the National Poetry slam, Women of the World Poetry Slam in March, and the Individual World Poetry Slam. One of our goals is to put Atlanta poets into the stratosphere and map them to a national poetic and experiential consciousness as well as to put Atlanta on the traveling poet map as a poetry destination.
~We encourage the production of publications, audio visual materials and workshops, to sharpen and diversify writing styles and themes. We invite cutting edge artists in metropolitan Atlanta who are interested in working in an interdisciplinary forum, to work beyond ego and individual poetic skill to collaborate and become a writer in community with others.
~In 2006, WDC and Art Amok! sent the first all-queer-identified female team to the National Poetry Slam.
~In 2007, Art Amok! sponsored the number 3 seeded individual poetry slam champion at Nationals in Shannon Leigh as well as advancing the team into semi-finals competition.Art Amok! and Java Monkey
both sponsored Atlanta teams ranking in the top 20 in a field of over 75 from around the country.
~In 2008, Art Amok! Conisisted of five members; veterans Theresa Davis, Stefen Micko and Shannon Leigh, and two stellar rookies in Mr. Funn and A.P.
Shannon Leigh picked our team, after qualifying for both Art Amok and Java Monkey Teams, and looked forward to writing new poems and a summer of rehearsing on her porch closer to everyone.We last saw her on Friday 13th, 6/08 around midnight. The next day, she would be in a coma induced diving accident and subsequently surrendered her fight for life on 6/30.Art Amok carried on in her spirit and that of her Austin mentors by performing and having a great time in Madison Wisconsin.We'll always be grateful for the love and support of the slam family, especially during this summer.Whereas Shannon reigned as an individual champ in '07, Art Amok's Theresa Davis and Stefen Micko landed Art Amok '08 in group piece finals, to furious applause.It was a wonderous experience and a full circling of sorts.
WHO ARE WE?
KAREN G. is the co-founding performance poet of Cliterati
Organized spoken word events for Ladyfest South ('02, '07) and Estrofest’s Seen + Heard Festival ('01-04). Currently is a performer and slam ma’am for the Art Amok/Slam Amok! series, first in Atlanta’s 7 Stages Theater, now in Mocha Match with Poetic Soul. She’s taken all Art Amok! teams to the National Poetry Slam. She’s been a three-time host for the Women’s mic at the Individual World Poetry Slam. By day she works behind the book spines at Emory University ’s library.
THERESA DAVIS~Born into a family of writers and entertainers, has expressed her artistic abilities in several mediums. She designed and created Ebony Angels (a line of hand-crafted dolls), Mental Notes (hand-crafted books) and clothes for children. A teacher for 17 years, she uses the arts across the curriculum. In 2002, Theresa joined forces with her mother and brother to form the spoken word performance group MoDaSo (Mother/ Daughter/ Son) and released two music Cd's "This is for Family" and "The Uncivil War." Her recent achievements include performing in The Vagina Monologues with Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda and Pearl Cleage. She is a member of The Word Diversity Collective/Art Amok and represented Atlanta as a member of the 2006-2008 Art Amok! Slam Teams.
STEFEN MICKO, 31, belonged to the Art Amok! 2007 Nationals Team as a proud, token male and he co-wrote both group pieces that the team used on Nationals stages.He has been the year-plus-long host of Poetic Soul, the
open mic partner of Art Amok! at Mocha Match Coffee bar Decatur.He's a student at GSU, originally from St.Louis and he's a poetic monster.
SHANNON LEIGH wrote novels and played guitar. She appeared on HBO's
Def Poetry Jam (you can seek out her voice and influence on the slam family community on youtube) and came up through the Austin youth poetry scene.She
had a certain dislike for higher education, yet she had an academic
understanding of languages in particular, and a certain idealism. She's probably now on a schooner,sailing the world and talking with lesser Gods over cups of African tea. That's the condensed version, she led a condensed life, full of passion.We are humbled witnesses.
A.P. delivered in Madison Wisconsin.Nobody believed she was a rookie.Sometimes humorous, she's a visual, imagist poet who bends the corners of expectation and perception around the day-to-day and makes the mundane political.She has a unique delivery, presence and inspirational voice.
MISTAFUNN is a father of two, delivers satire and wit in the form of the tragic and the comical--and occasionally as a preacher.Funn is not a stage name.He can serve up a sexy pancake or a touching piece about his son because he's a poet with range and depth.He brings the wackness.
CHECK OUT OUR TOP FRIENDS FOR WHO WILL BE FEATURING, as well as our Amoker's profiles and those of our beloved regulars!
In 2009, ART AMOK sees the return of A.P., Stefen Micko & Theresa Davis with the addition of:
CHAUNCEY BEATY, artists, academic, spiritual sunshine, Greenville, SC raised, Columbus Ohio educated, now she's shaking up the Atlanta scene, often using poems to educate audiences by portraying people and moments with revelatory images.She's also an organizer of the first ever She Speak, Hope Springs Female poet-performer conference.No amateur, she went to NPS in '06.
FREE from Cleveland OH, this is not her first Nationals slam team, either.She speaks truth to power in poems defending women and girls, questions our country's politics, and paints reality without a blink.She channels strength from the Most High and inspires.
IN 2009, Chauncey & Theresa BOTH placed in the top ten at the Women of the World Poetry Slam.
They are only just getting warmed up.(Actually, 5 from the Atlanta poetry community placed.Gypsee Yo came in second, Queen Sheba, and Red Summer all placed as well).
WHAT THA 'MOK?!
at NPS 2009, with hard work, writing, & excellent performance skills,
ART AMOK RANKED 4th in the Nation in GROUP PIECE FINALS! It was an honor to share the stage with our friends from Berkeley, Seattle & New Jersey on that stage.
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