Photo: Slam Poetry Performers

Slam poetry has been alternatively praised as a vital, democratic form of poetry and, in the words of Harold Bloom, condemned as “the death of art.” Despite its controversial status in the academy, its popularity has spread from its emergence in Chicago in the mid-1980s to films, a series on HBO, and nation-wide competitions. The Axton series is pleased to present University of Louisville’s first Community-focused slam event, hosted and accompanied with a reading by NEA-recognized slam and page poet Jeffrey McDaniel, who currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence and is the author of three books of poetry, Alibi School, The Forgiveness Parade, and The Splinter Factory. Judges will include Pat Lawler, a former Axton reader, as well as other poets to be announced.