became an ongoing event at
Diego Vázquez, Jr.hosted the 2nd Erotica Poetry Slam on Valentines night in the Titanic Lounge of Kieran's Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis on February 14,1995. From that fast fabulous night of romance, exuberant, mysterious encounters, and storm clouds of erotica, the poetic seeds that would create SlamMN! were planted. (in the updated history of Poetry Slam in MN you will read where the 1st Erotica Poetry Slam was held.)
Kieran Folliard, pub owner and visionary extraordinaire, and Diego Vazquez, poet & soon to be published novelist, agreed that Kieran’s would do well to host monthly poetry slams. Little did they know that three years later Minnesota would be sending the first poetry slam team from the state to compete at the 1998 National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas. The first Minnesota Slam poets who traveled to Austin that year were Loren Niemi,Bao Phi,Patrick McKinnon,Kate Peterson, and Diego Vazquez.
This is the beginning of a personal history of Poetry Slam in Minnesota, from one of the founders of SlamMN!. The first slammaster in Minnesota and the host of the only organized Poetry Slam in the state for the next five years. (a more complete narrative will be published soon)
This page is a work in progress. I welcome input from anyone who was there during the “early days.” With patience, good fortune, and memory, I will complete this page soon!
dv
