SLAM! -- Poet says technique makes verse attractive to wider audience

Matt Mason performs his poem "Baby," which describes his increasing anxiety as friends repeatedly tell him how his life will change after his wife has their baby. Artist in residence at the McCook Senior High, Mason said he has found "some beautiful lines" in the poems students have written so far. (Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette)

Matt Mason, known in Omaha as the "slam guy" told members of the Buffalo Commons Storytelling group that slam poetry was basically "a gimmick " to make poetry readings more entertaining.

Gimmick or not, Mason performs and wins national slam poetry contests, coaches and judges team competitors, and conducts poetry slams once a month in Omaha.

In town through Friday as the artist in residence at the McCook Senior High, Mason explained the origins of slam poetry, which he said began 30 years ago in Chicago. A poet frustrated by apathetic and distracted audiences sought ways to actively engage them in the poetry readings. He asked spectators to judge each poet's performance, which forced the poets to inject a little theater in their reading. Bad poets were booed and heckled off the stage, and "slam poetry" was invented.

Well written, well performed poems are worth applauding for, Mason said, who added that no negative feedback is allowed at his slams in Omaha.

Mason performed several pieces Tuesday night, which included "When the Bough Breaks," about the powerlessness he felt as he watched his father die, and another which described in humorous detail how his five month old daughter cried relentlessly before falling asleep. He and his friends are writing one poem a day for the month of November, and he is organizing a book-length anthology of poems about his daughter Sophia, now 15 months.

A graduate of the University of California with a masters in creative writing, Mason and his wife Sarah McKinstry-Brown have authored nine chapbooks and have three CD's available. Mason's book, A Blessing And A Curse, was included in the Omaha World Herald's "Recommended Reading" list for 2000.

The Nebraska Arts Council Artist in Schools and Communities Program, and McCook Arts Council cosponsored his residency this week.