Taos News On The Library Poetry Slam

The Taos News' Matthew Van Buren shares what it was like to be a judge in our recent Teen Poetry Slam. Van Buren writes: "When I agreed to judge a teen poetry slam a couple of weeks back, I wasn't sure what to expect. "I have no business being here," I thought as I sat down with cards and markers, ready to score young poets on their content and delivery."

Fortunately, Van Buren was soon acclimated:

I have to say, I was really impressed with the writing and public speaking abilities the students displayed. I had gone in expecting to hear about the blackness of people's souls and the need to escape this phony society — though perhaps that condescending assumption speaks to my own lack of poetic ability.But Taos' young poets memorized lengthy works, presented them with style and tackled a wide variety of topics...
The couple of hours the contest took seemed to fly by, and we adjourned before I was really ready for the slam to be over.

You can read the full article at the TaosNews.com.

Thanks, Matt for being a judge and for sharing your experiences with us!