April 21, 2020

National Poetry Month Episode with Bluz, Jay, Kathie, Kia and Shane

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:11:29 — 65.6MB)

In this episode 98, in celebration of National Poetry Month, we meet five Queen City poets, who share their love of poetry and their poetry journeys and perform two of their poems.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and Charlotte Readers Podcast partnered to bring these local poets to the podcast stage. You will hear poetry by Bluz, Jay Ward, Kathie Collins, Kia Flow and Shane Manier.

National Poetry Month each April is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives.

The Poets (in alphabetical order by first name):

Bluz

Connect with the poet:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bluzbluzbluz

Find out more: https://www.jswmediagroup.com/clients/boris-bluz-rogers/

Bluz is the slam master and coach of SlamCharlotte, a competitive team of poets whom he led to back to back National Poetry Slam victories in 2007 and 2008 and a historic 3rd win in 2018. Bluz is also a 2010 Southern Fried Poetry Slam Champion. He has featured and hosted at the LA Poetry festival as well as the National Poetry slam in 2012 and the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2013. Bluz also served as a delegate and writer at the All-America City awards where he helped Charlotte win the very sought-after award of All-America City.

Bluz has been performing spoken word and hosting events for over 10 years. He performed at the 2010 induction ceremony for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, a symbolic culmination of the city of Charlotte’s passion for winning the bid for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and Bluz’ passion to communicate his human-centric prose to audiences who have yet to enjoy slam poetry as an art form.

Bluz has appeared on major radio and television network performances including, CBS Radio, Radio Disney, ESPN, Speed TV, and BET, and has shared the stage with many distinguished poets and international recording artists ranging from Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, and Gil Scott Heron to Outkast, John Legend, and Pink Floyd.

He is the author of a book of poetry(Articulate Slang), released 3 cds, and a mixtape, The Reflection, that was well received on the hip hop savvy website Datpiff.com Bluz has featured at many world famous poetry clubs such as FLY POETS LA, Nuyorican poets Café, and Bowery Poetry Club.

ASC 2019 Creative Renewal Fellowship recipient Boris Rogers ( literature)

Jay Ward

Connect with the poet:

Website: Http://jwardpoetry.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jward2030

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jwardpoetry

Jay Ward is a poet and teaching artist from Charlotte. He is a National Slam champion and an Individual World Poetry Slam champion.

Jay serves as a Program Director for BreatheInk, where he facilitates writing and performance workshops and coaches youth poets attending Brave New Voices each year. He has attended and benefited greatly from Breadloaf Writer’s Conference, Callaloo, The Watering Hole and Tin House Winter Workshop.

His work can be found in Crabfat Magazine, Lackadaisy Lit Mag, The Poeming Pigeon, and Button Poetry.

Honors include:

2019 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion

2018 National Poetry Slam Champion

2017 Callaloo Fellow

2017 The Watering Hole Fellow

2016 Write Bloody Finalist

2016 Queen City Awards Poet of the Year

2013 Writer’s Digest Self Published Book of the Year Honorable Mention

Kathie Collins

Connect with the poet at Charlotte Lit:

Website: https://www.charlottelit.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cltlit/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cltlit

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/charlottelit/about/

Kathie Collins, Ph.D., is co-founder and Executive Director of Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to elevating the literary arts in the Charlotte area.

Kathie earned her graduate degree in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she is now an adjunct instructor.

A poet and lifelong student of Jungian psychology, Kathie thrives in the in-between space from which dreams and creativity emerge. She’s happiest when she can share that space with others and one of her great passions is bringing words and people together for transformative conversations.

Kathie’s poetry has appeared in Immanence, Kakalak, BibleWorkbench, and Between. Her chapbook Jubilee was published by Main Street Rag in 2011.

Kia Flow

Connect with the poet:

Website: www.kiaflow.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kiaflow

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kiaflow

Youtube: www.youtube.com/kiaflow

Nearing a decade of living, breathing and being poetry, Kia Flow continues her quest to speak her words and learn from the “ways of the world.” As a native of Jacksonville FL, she admits she’s no stranger to hard times and selfish mistakes. It was poetry that lifted her veil to sharpen her perspective and allow her to reflect in depth. In a short period of time Kia started to make a name for herself in her local poetry community and was requested to appear for more features, benefits, mini concerts and discussion topic shows; which landed her a gig with Under Da Scope Ent as the host of Venus Versus Mars The Open Dialogue to Intimacy.

In 2013, Kia was inducted into Black on Black Rhyme Jacksonville and she relocated to Charlotte continuing to make her name in the poetry community. Kia has competed at Southern Fried Poetry Slam since 2015 in Little Rock Arkansas to Fayetteville NC in 2019 always ranking in the top 40 with the exception of 2017 in Louisville KY where she ranked 14th place. She also became the first person to represent SlamCharlotte for both WOWPS (Women of the World Poetry Slam) Dallas TX, and iWPS (Individual World Poetry Slam) San Diego CA in a single season, where she ranked in the top 40. In 2018 she and her team SlamCharlotte brought home the victory for the National Poetry Slam Competition.

In April of 2019 Kia was awarded the Poet of Influence award by The Jax Poetry Fest in recognition of the hard work she has done in the name of poetry from her hometown.

What’s next for Kia Flow? You can find her featuring around the country and she is also promoting her book “As the Flow Goes” released in 2018 and her first one woman stage play “Finding my Flow” released in 2019 which was written, directed and performed all by her.

Shane Manier

Connect with the poet:

Website: www.shanemanier.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shane.manier.7

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shanemanier

Links to poetry merch: https://shanemanier.com/store

Shane Manier is a Creative Coach, Artist, Live Event Painter, Poetry Mentor and National Spoken Word Poet based in the Charlotte Metro Region. She is the founder of Guerilla Poets, a nonprofit art collective with branches in the US and UK. As a poet and artist, she has been featured at many shows and venues all across the US while completing many outreach programs as an activist.

She is currently the Spoken Word and Arts Teaching Instructor for Behailu Arts Academy, The Harvey B. Gantt Center, Henderson High School and Playing for Others as well as Center for Faith in the Arts current Artist in Residence.

In 2011, she was the youngest poet to ever be inducted in the Poetry Council of North Carolina and served on board of CCAG Arts Collective of Cornelius North Carolina in 2017. She has been recognized as a National Poet performing with Respect Da Mic Slam Team from 2017-2020. Her poetry is widely known for its passion, centered around themes ranging from personal topics, politics, social justice issues, and powerful inspirational pieces that expose and bond the core of humanity.

In 2015 she released her first poetry album, “Bootstraps” and Main Street Rag published her first chapbook, “Fallen Heroes of the Awful Waffle” in 2017. She recently released her second album, “Carrier Pigeons” and is currently in the process of publishing 13 more books and a third album.

Become a Member Supporter and Help Authors Give Voice to Their Written Words

If you like the idea of local and regional authors being able to give voice to their written words, please consider becoming a member supporter of Charlotte Readers Podcast. We’d love to have you on the team.

In addition to knowing you are helping build a community of readers and writers, you will have access to awesome member only content.

Would you like to hear more from the authors? Perhaps a variety of presentations on writing craft? Or additional readings? Or tips on marketing and social media?

Would you like some behind the scenes insights from the host? Or some edited content from previous episodes without interruptions?

Learn more about being a member supporter here: www.patreon.com/charlottereaderspodcast

Making Mid-rolls Fun

In our mid-roll this week, Landis talks about what’s coming for the 100^th episode.

Write a review and help authors reach a wider audience

If you liked the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or the podcast platform of your choice. Reviews are like the gasoline that drive this podcast engine. They help our authors give voice to their written words to a wider audience.

Here’s how:

On the iPhone: go to your Apple Podcasts App, open the show Charlotte Readers Podcast, scroll down to Ratings and Reviews, look for the “Write a Review” link below the latest review, click on it, and give us some stars and write a few sentences, please.

On other devices: Links to provide reviews are at the bottom of the home page on this website or can be accessed for whatever platform you use to listen to the podcast.

Get Free E-book when you sign-up for our newsletter email list:

When you join our email list on the home page, we will give you a free e-Book in appreciation for letting us keep you informed about the show.

Look to the right side of the home page about mid-way down for the “Sign-Up” Link under the “Free E-book” heading.

We won’t spam you; that takes too much time, just provide you with updates and information about the show.

Please Visit and Support Our Sponsors

Please remember our sponsors Park Road Books and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Find out more at www.parkroadbooks.com and www.cmlibrary.org or drop by the store or any of the branches for a visit.