Official Press Release / Charalambides steps down as Worcester Youth Poetry Slam Director to help spearhead Statewide Youth Poetry Festival
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Alex Charalambides
(508) 450-6952
worcesteryouthslam2004@yahoo.com
Alex Charalambides steps down from Worcester Youth Poetry Slam to help spearhead State Wide Youth Festival.
Youth Poet Alumni Kate Richardson named new Director & Coach
Worcester, January 3rd, 2012 – Since 2003, Worcester Performance Poet & Youth Activist Alex Charalambides has been working independently to offer teen writers opportunities to develop their spoken word craft, build community and help connect Worcester to the burgeoning national youth poetry community. As of January 1st, 2012, Mr. Charalambides is stepping down from the program he started in order to take a position with Mass L.E.A.P. (Massachusetts Literary Education & Performance) a collective he co-founded this past year. Mass L.E.A.P. is working to create even more opportunities for youth state wide, including the creation of the inaugural 2012 Louder than a Bomb Massachusetts Festival, slated to take place late March, early April 2012.
According to their mission statement (www.massleapcollective.org) “Mass L.E.A.P. is a network of artists, educators, and students working together to create a vibrant youth poetry community across Massachusetts. We work to connect teaching artists with schools and other organizations in order to create opportunities for the youth of the Commonwealth to experience, create, and perform poetry. Our goals are to empower the voices of young people, foster creativity, promote literacy, and build community.” The collective was Co-Founded along with “Louder than a Bomb Chicago” Co-Founder Anna West, Chicago Alumni Amanda Torres, Boston Youth Activist Ayano Strickland, National Poetry Slam Champion & Educator Regie Gibson & Boston Poet Jade Sylvan. Starting in Miss West’s living room in Belmont, the group quickly gained a following, expanding their numbers through out reach and organizational summits. They now count over 30 active members in their ranks.
Aside from spoken word poetry curriculum development, teacher training, student workshops and open mic events, Mass L.E.A.P.’s biggest goal is to develop the very first state-wide youth poetry slam festival, modeled after the wildly successful Chicago Model, started by Miss West and Chicago Poet Kevin Coval. Mass L.E.A.P. expects over 20 middle & high school teams to participate in its first year. In conjunction with their fiscal sponsor Mass Poetry (creators of the annual Mass Poetry Festival), they’ve coordinated dates for Louder than a Bomb Mass. March 30th, up to 500 middle & high school students will participate in a day of workshops and readings at MIT. March 31st, over 20 teams will compete in team poetry slam preliminary competitions. April 1st, the top 8 ranked teams will compete in semi-finals to choose the 4 finalist teams, to compete for a poetry slam championship on April 13th.
For the past 8 years, Mr. Charalambides has organized independent youth poetry slams around Worcester in order to encourage young voices to speak their stories. He’s held free writing workshops through the support of the Worcester County Poetry Association. He’s raised funds, coached and chaperoned over 30 teen poets to the annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival. Worcester made it to semi-finals for the first time this past summer. “The festivals have been an amazing experience, not only for these poets, many of whom still remain active in the poetry scene, but also for my development as a teaching artist and organizer. As much as I’d love to continue both programs, I felt it would benefit so many more local area teen writers to establish a state wide festival to engage more of our students, rather than make this annual trip. Perhaps there’ll be a time when Worcester can send a team to both Louder than a Bomb Mass & Brave New Voices, but for now, I feel that we have the resources here to build something that can match the energy and community that exists on the national level.” says Charalambides.
“It is a conflict of interest to organize a youth poetry competition and manage a team that’s competing. The Worcester Youth Poetry Slam will continue to exist, and for me, it’s such a point of pride that it will continue, even as I step down in my official capacity,” continues Charalambides “Kate Richardson was one of our youth poetry slam stars on the 2008 & 2009 teams. She co-coached the team with me this year and has such a talent for connecting poets to their performances. I believe her work with the team this year helped us advance to semi finals for the first time! It’s been really gratifying to know that the 2012 team will be in such capable hands.”
Along with these moves, the Worcester Youth Poetry Slam will now take place monthly at the Poet’s Asylum Reading & Slam Series, which happens ever Sunday at W.C.U.W. Community Radio at 910 Main Street in Worcester. (www.poetsasylum.org) Co-Coordinators Sarah Sapienza & Elizabeth Heath have generously offered to house the youth poetry slam. There will be a monthly youth poetry slam competition at the Asylum. The last qualifying poetry slam will take place Sunday January 15th at 7pm. The team finals will take place February 5th. Top 6 ranking poets from that night will represent Worcester at the 2012 Louder than a Bomb Massachusetts Tournament.
For the past 3 years, youth slams have been housed at Clark University, as part of the Worcester Unified Poetry Slam Series. Sponsored in part by the Worcester Arts Council and Coordinated with the Clark University Poetry Slam Club, the series hosted world renowned spoken word artists and held poetry slam competitions for both the youth and college crowds. “The Clark Scene had been defunct for a couple years,” Charalambides explains, “when the Java Hut Closed down, there was just no obvious place for us to hold youth slams, I really saw the potential for larger audiences and increased out-reach, basing our series at a great school like Clark. I’m super proud to say that the Clark Scene is strong enough to hold its own as a reading series. I plan on continuing to support their efforts, but felt the time was right to separate the two slam competitionss.”
Mr. Charalambides is a 2011 Worcester Arts Council Fellowship Recipient. He’s recently been named a 2011 Worcester Magazine “Hometown Hero” and Pulse Magazine’s “12 to watch in 2012.” He views this temporary position, co-coordinating the Louder than a Bomb Massachusetts Festival (along with Mass L.E.A.P. co-founder Amanda Torres) as a huge step towards developing a career as youth poetry organizer & activist. He believes wholeheartedly that he’s following in his parents footsteps. His father Nicholas Charalambides & mother Chrysanthi Charalambides were longtime Worcester Republican Party Activists. “I’m just like them, I’ve chosen a different arena, but I learned at a young age that if you care about something, you have to roll your sleeves up and get involved. I’m amazed at how supportive they’ve been over the years. I understand that most parents would take pause when their son announces that he wants to make a career out of poetry.”
