After 12 years of writing and performing his poetry in slam contests locally and nationally, Eirean Bradley was cynical, tired and afraid he had nothing left to say.
But the moment he saw 14-year-old Sarah Kaplan-Gould perform at a monthly slam reading at South High School he felt what he hadn’t felt in a long while: passion for the written word.
The teenager was a bundle of pure potential, already writing at a level equal to most of the adults Bradley had ever come across. But Sarah was so shy, she didn’t know what to do with the power she had been given.
“Watching her that night, I knew that if I fixed her, I fixed myself,” says Bradley. “In kids, the art form is distilled to its purest point. It’s naked self-expression, brilliantly honest.
“They haven’t figured out how to lie yet or get caught up in the pretension and self-involvement that adults cloak themselves in.”
Some three months later, Sarah’s newfound confidence roars through the mic, so raw and filled with anger that even Bradley, who is now her mentor, tells her to tone it down.
In less than two weeks, Sarah and five other area teenagers will constitute the first Denver team to compete in the International Youth Poetry competition this year in New York.
Topics include the horrors of war. Peace discovered through Christianity. The search for meaning and direction in young lives. Nothing will be off limits for the group of teens who will bare their thoughts and life experiences this week in the ninth annual “Brave New Voices” festival hosted by Youth Speaks and Urban Word NYC.
More than 400 poets, ages 13 to 19, from across the country and England will compete, performing in famous American poetry venues such as the CBGB Gallery and the Bowery Poetry Club until the final five teams battle it out in the grand slam finals at the Apollo Theater.
“There are very few opportunities for young people to really be celebrated in noncommercial ways,” says James Kass, founder and director of Youth Speaks. “This festival is all about celebrating young people, the power of the youth voice, the creativity and intelligence these kids have.”
Sarah and her teammates have blossomed from naturally gifted writers to strong performers under the guidance of local poets, including Bradley, Ken Arkind, Jennifer Rinaldi, Rob C, John-Claude Futrell (a.k.a. Panama Soweto) and Young American Eddie. Each volunteered time to work one-on-one with a student.
Since the Denver team was chosen in mid-March through three qualifying rounds, the teenagers have rehearsed three times a week. “They are seeing and interacting with these artists and in the process are beginning to identify themselves as artists as well,” Rinaldi says.
Pacing, voice characterization and nailing the ending are key directions given to the poets.
During a recent rehearsal, Bradley told Sarah that intensity doesn’t mean screaming as the words from her anti-war, anti-apathy poem “Geography” flow from her memory through her mouth:
“There, life is measured in bullets rather than coffee, the Nile runs red, just like Moses said, but this time around the blood is real. And the bodies aren’t far, no one’s got the money anymore to pay for coffins, But a mass grave don’t seem so scary when you’re second from the top and already dead.”
“It’s really cool to see someone feel as if they’ve just got their voice for the first time,” says Arkind.
With Brandon Stepien’s trench coat, funny hat, strange hair and punk-rock energy,
Bradley is sure people will be studying the work of this quirky 16-year-old decades from now.
Katy Pivoda used to be completely detached from her work, but now she’s willing to “go there,” using the emotion as a teaching tool.
Eddie Davis used to coast on his performance alone. Now he’s backing up his charm with solid, introspective writing.
Elle Stevens would read 10 pages of amazingly written poetry – taking seven minutes to finish instead of the three allotted in competition. Now, her writing has become more powerful and concise.
Jacob Isaac Rosen used to mumble his way through poems but now dazzles the audience with strong characterization.
“This has been so good for me, to see it come through completely fresh, new eyes,” Bradley says. “Brandon’s twisted way of viewing things, Sarah’s naivete, Katy’s pure passion – all of them have reminded me of what it was like when I found my voice.”
Sarah and her teammates agree the hardest part is walking up to the stage where the microphone awaits.
“When you walk up there, either you know you have it or you don’t,” says Rosen, an 18-year-old senior at Skyland Community High School who spearheaded the creation of Denver’s youth slam team.
“It’s one of the best ways to reach out to people,” says Pivoda, an 18-year-old senior at South High school. “These people are devoting three minutes out of their lives to listen to you. ”
An Aurora team represented Colorado during the competition last year. Rosen had been trying to create a Denver team for the past three years but was unable to generate support until now with the assistance of Arthur Baraf, assistant principal and 11th-grade adviser. Baraf, himself a slam poet, has been mentoring Rosen for three years.
While in New York, participants will get to attend workshops and performances and interact with well-known poets, spoken-word artists and peers. Sure, everyone wants the bragging rights of winning at the Apollo.
But it’s the moments outside the competition that Kass hopes will serve as a foundation for youths to thrive creatively, critically, intellectually and politically.
Staying up all night writing poetry with their peers and tapping into the energy created by free-styling – circling one another, spitting out poetry – will inspire them.
“They lose any sense of alienation or isolation,” Kass says. “They really feel they are a part of a national movement, a movement of young people taking control of their lives through language.”
Staff writer Sheba R. Wheeler can be reached at 303-820-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com.
