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Spoken Word Group Bringing Poetry Slams to Washington Heights

By Lindsay Armstrong | September 17, 2014 11:30am
 Word at 4F will host bi-monthly slams at Apt. 78.
Spoken Word Group Bringing Poetry Slams to Washington Heights
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WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A local arts group is hosting Washington Heights' first poetry slam to bring a taste of spoken word competition uptown.

Starting Wednesday night, Word at 4F will host bi-monthly poetry slams at the local lounge Apt. 78 to introduce the performance art to Northern Manhattan, after the group's co-creator constantly found herself traveling downtown to take part in slams.

“I grew up in Washington Heights, and I realized that I had to leave my neighborhood to enjoy these events,” said Angela Abreu, who co-founded Word at 4F — named because the original events took place in her apartment — as an open mic night in 2012.

“I thought, why not bring this up here and introduce our community to spoken word?”

The competitions are open to anyone age 21 or older, with the winner earning a $100 cash prize and a spot in the finals, which will take place in December.

Word at 4F still holds one open mic night each month, but the organizers now alternate locations among different apartments. The location is only released to those who are on the mailing list and RSVP to the event. While the first open mic night drew about 20 people, Abreu now has a mailing list with more than 500 names on it.

Abreu and her co-founder, Rammer Martinez, have also searched for other ways to engage the community, including hosting free weekly workshops at Word Up Bookshop for teens interested in spoken word.

Last February, they started hosting monthly spoken word showcases at Apt. 78, inviting well-known spoken word poets from all over the city to perform. The showcases regularly drew crowds of 60 to 80 people, Abreu said.

When Apt. 78 agreed to give Word at 4F performance space twice a month, she decided it was time to change up the program and introduce the element of competition.

"I wanted to give the community a feel of what a poetry slam is," said Abreu, who started writing poetry as a teenager. "A lot of them weren't aware of spoken word a few years ago. Now they've gotten into it. This will introduce them to the competition aspect."

Each slam will begin with a mini-showcase by two or three performers before moving into the competition portion. Anyone can enter the competition by signing up at the event, and each performer will get three minutes to perform a single piece. Audience members will then vote on the winner.

Abreu said that while other venues like Dichter Pharmacy and Inwood Local have started poetry open mic nights, she has not seen any uptown group attempt a poetry slam. She encouraged both poets and audience members to give it a try.

"I just want people to come out and experience it," she said. "We need more of the arts in Washington Heights. It's kind of absent from our community sometimes, and we want to make sure it stays in our community."

The group's first poetry slam will begin at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17.