Tonight's edition of Talking Earth features three of the co-founders of the Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam Festival: Julia Gaskill, Stephen Meads and Jane Belinda. The Festival will happen in downtown Portland this coming June, with events at Powells and the downtown Multnomah County Library, among other venues.
Jane Belinda is the current Slammaster for the Portland Poetry Slam. They have competed nationally in poetry slams, including the final stage of the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam. They have been published in Button Poetry, among others. Jane co-founded the Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam Festival in 2019 with Julia Gaskill.
Julia Gaskill has been published on FreezeRay Poetry, NAILED, Ink & Nebula, Rising Phoenix Review, Knight's Library Magazine and more. Videos of her poetry have been featured on both Write About Now and SlamFind. Her poem ‘i will not beg for scraps’ was nominated for Best of the Net in 2015. Julia is the author of four chapbooks, runs the mic Slamlandia, and co-founded the Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam Festival in 2019.
Stephen Meads, originally a Bay-based poet, now living and performing in Portland, has been performing spoken word for over seventeen years. He has featured at slams all across the country – from Portland, Maine to Honolulu, Hawaii. Stephen stormed Individual World Poetry Slam in 2013, 2014, 2017, and has competed in the National Poetry Slam five times with various teams. He has been featured on Drunk in a Midnight Choir, SlamFind, Write About Now, and Button Poetry, and he occasionally contributes to the web-site Nailed. Stephen also co-founded the Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam Festival.
Patrick Bocarde hosts.
- KBOO