Every year, hundreds of poets from around the country vigorously write, practice and slam for an entire season to earn a spot on regional teams with hopes of competing at the National Poetry Slam. This year, instead of sending a team to compete at nationals, The Philly Pigeon has decided to send their top five poets on a writing retreat. (Applications are open until April 30, 2016).
We had a chat with Jacob Winterstein, Jasmine Combs and Kai Davis of The Philly Pigeon to discuss Iverson, craftsmanship and other pertinent questions.
Blavity: This seems very left field from what the poetry slam community is used to. Why did The Philly Pigeon decide to go in a different direction this year?
Jacob Winterstein: It’s not totally out of left field. I believe Louder Arts used to rotate between a slam year in which they sent a team to NPS and a fellowship year in which they gave top finishers from grand slam some creative and professional support over the course of a year. Jadon Woodward won Louder Arts one year and then moved to Philly, and I learned about the fellowship experience from him. NPS provides a really tangible goal by which to complete or polish poems. We’re excited to see what type of creativity gets spurned in a more open-ended environment. The pace of preparing for Nationals can be intense. We’re curious to see how a slower paced, more relaxed retreat brings people together and supports creation.
Jasmine Combs: I wouldn’t say that a retreat is “left field” from what the poetry slam community is used to, there are plenty of poets who participate in slam that also go to retreats and fellowships and such. I guess it isn’t typical for poets to slam for spots in a retreat, but I haven’t been in the community long enough to know if what we’re doing has never been done before. As someone who’s represented The Pigeon twice at nationals, I know that Jacob and I share similar feelings about the tension and stress of the competition that sometimes distracts from the community building and cultivation of art that is the true purpose of slam. We hope that this retreat will offer artists a chance to build together and really work on their craft in a stress-free environment. It will also provide our immediate community with some variety, for people who don’t want to go to nationals or those who want to do both (our sister slam The Fuze is still sending a team and the retreat will not coincide with nationals so poets could attend both if they want).
B: A few benefits of attending a National Slam are experience, networking and bragging rights. What are some things you’re hoping the poets that earn a spot to go on this retreat get out of this experience that they might not at a national slam?
Kai Davis: I’m interested in what a dialogue amongst different genres would look like in Philly. Personally, I think interacting with dancers, musicians and visual artists has made a profound impact on my writing, and I want to know what that would look like on a city-wide basis.
JW: An opportunity to build relationships with artists across genres. We’ll be inviting visual artists, dancers and musicians. We also hope that there will be a more organic process of collaboration at a retreat setting that is different from the pressure cooker of preparing for NPS.
B: Being on a slam team is an opportunity to collaborate and grow with like-minded artists who push your craft to be better for an entire summer. How different do you think the writing process for this year’s team is going to be compared to previous years?
JW: No idea. Excited to find out. This is an experiment and we hope that the spirit of experimentation is infused into the retreat.
KD: I think people will be able to write more openly because there are no consequences or quantifiable point systems swaying or stifling people’s writing process.
JC: I think there’s just going to be less pressure.
B: Will The Philly Pigeon ever compete at a National Slam again?
KD: I would imagine, but I can’t say definitively.
JC: I think it would be cool to do every other year, but who knows…we’ll see how this one goes first before we decide.
B: If you had to give yourself advice on how to be a better writer what would it be?
JW: I tell myself to make more time for it.
KD: Go to the museum, the movies, to plays, concerts whenever I can.
JC: Read more books.
B: A retreat to me sounds like a relaxing getaway surrounded by trees and hot chocolate, but that’s me. What is your ideal creative environment?
JW: When I’m in nature I write about the city. When I’m in the city I write about nature.
KD: I write best when I’m supposed to be doing something else, so that could be anywhere at any time really.
B: How important is it to take time out of your busy schedule to write poems?
JC: It’s very important depending on your process. For me, I don’t need to schedule time to write because there’s no schedule of when a poem is going to come to me. I just write them as they come or I store them mentally until they’re ready to be written.
B: For someone who has never been, how would you describe a night at The Philly Pigeon?
JW: We have fun. We play music, we dance, we joke, we share what we’re grateful for. We meet new people. We also can be serious and tender. Our audience listens so hard. So deeply. They want to be entertained like anyone wants to be entertained, but they will also really focus and give you their full and undivided attention. The venue is always packed, the poets respond to that and bring their best and our audience is a beautiful, diverse representation of our amazing city.
KD: It’s always full of amazing energy. The crowd is more diverse than I’ve found at other venues across the country. The crowd is smart, but not pretentious. Fun-loving, but not obnoxious. It’s really the perfect balance.
JC: It’s really the best event in the city; great music, a diverse and energetic crowd that is always PACKED, new and familiar talent, fun and entertaining hosts. A lot of events can be hit or miss but The Pigeon is consistently a hit, I’ve never regretted spending $10 there.
B: What are 5 things you can’t write without?
JW: Peanut butter and jelly, mongooses, rugs, mongoose rugs, aromatherapy.
KD: That’s not really a thing for me. If I have a pen or internet access or a phone I can figure it out.
JC: I just need something to write with and something to write on. And quiet.
B: For artists who aren’t able to take some time off to work on their craft what advice could you give about how to balance real life and being creative?
JW: Schedule it like you would anything that is important to you. Move through guilt about not writing. It won’t serve you.
JC: You have to work with what you have. For me, being creative is a part of my real life. I’m in a poetry collective, I’m a part of The Pigeon, I’m an editor for literary magazines, I study poetry in college, there is no dichotomy. If your circumstances allow, make creativity a part of your real life.
B: What other artistic outlets in Philly should we be checking out as well?
JW: The Harvest, The Fuze, Penola Breed Love, Jus Words, Apiary Magazine, Bedfellows, PYPM.
KD: Definitely the Babel Poetry Collective.
JC: Babel Poetry Collective, I promise you will never see a poetry showcase as crisp and dynamic as our bi-annual production, Babylon.
B: I find a lot of the creatives I talk to are very proud of where they come from, so I like to play the game “IM SO FLY” but instead you say where you’re from.
JW: I’m So Philly
B: How Philly are you?
JW: I have an Allen Iverson tattoo. Not a tattoo of Allen Iverson but one of his tattoos, that he has, I have a copy on me.
KD: I’m So Philly
B: How Philly are you?
KD: I’m all about public tough love and behind the scenes gentleness. I also have a foul mouth.
JC: I’m So Philly
B: How Philly are you?
JC: Cheesesteak is my favorite food group.
Poet bios:
Jacob Winterstein is a poet, host, teaching artist and event producer. He has traveled to 24 countries and always comes home to Philadelphia where he was born, raised and educated.
Jacob has represented Philadelphia at the National Poetry Slam, The Individual World Poetry Slam, the Red Bull Word Clash Poetry Competition, and is a winner of the Philadelphia Poet vs. MC Freestyle Competition.
He has taught poetry, performance and improvisational rapping, or freestyle, since 2006 at schools, universities, community centers and jails. He is the co-founder of The Philly Pigeon Poetry Slam, a Philadelphia Magazine Best of Philly 2012 winner and a Knight Foundation Arts Challenge 2013 winner.
He also is the co-director of Camp Bonfire, a summer camp for adults.
Kai Davis is a writer and performer from Philadelphia. She is also a Creative Writing and African American Studies student at Temple University. Her work has been featured at the San Francisco Opera House, The Kimmel Center, The Temple Performing Arts Center and on CNN. In 2011, she was awarded the title of National Brave New Voices Grand Slam Champion and in 2012, she was the second ranked Youth Speaks Individual Slam Poet in the nation.
Right now she spends most of her time working as the artistic director of the Babel Poetry Collective. When she is not directing, she tours colleges and universities across the country, performing and facilitating writing workshops.
Jasmine Combs is a writer, performer, and educator from Philadelphia. She is currently a senior at Temple University studying English with a focus in Creative Writing: Poetry. On campus, she is the Creative Editor of HYPHEN, Temple’s Undergraduate Literary and Arts Magazine and the Events Coordinator of Babel Poetry Collective. Off campus, Jasmine has competed in the 25th and 26th Annual National Poetry Slam, 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam, and this year she will represent Temple at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational.
She recently became an organizer for The Pigeon Presents: The Philadelphia Poetry Slam where she currently holds the 2015 Grand Slam Champion title and is the newest staff editor of The Fem Literary Magazine. In 2014, she published her first chapbook Universal Themes and her work has been featured on Apiary Magazine, SlamFind, Button Poetry and Blavity.
