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Young Steel 'Slams' Cannon Coffee

The new youth slam poetry group held its first event at Cannon Coffee on Saturday.

 
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Jude Waldo (a.k.a Kimberly Reinwald) of Mt. Lebanon performs her original, "Cooler."
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William James of Steel City Slam was happy to host Saturday's event, especially since many teens reading were too young to perform in clubs with adult leagues. "I have a big problem with agism in shows," he said. "When you consider that it's around age 13 or 14 that you start developing your taste in culture, it's horrible that some of these avenues are closed." Credit Erin Faulk
Morgan Boyer, 17, of Peters Township performed in her first poetry slam Saturday night. "We might get a group together at the library and perform, but this is a bit different," she said. Credit Erin Faulk
Alex Tybl, 17, of Mt. Lebanon, had read his poetry at open mic nights, but had never participated in a youth poetry slam for the simple fact that one didn't exist until recently. "I do writing with friends and we share, but I don't think there's a lot of other opportunities for this, really," he said. Credit Erin Faulk
Maya Wilkerson, a volunteer with the Voices Against Violence program, attended the event with several students from Pittsburgh Brashear and Carrick High Schools. Although those students did not perform, several were judges. Wilkerson said the group came to see if it's something they'd like to get involved with and advocate to fellow students. Credit Erin Faulk
Anna Voelker, 16, of the North Hills, learned about slam poetry through her involvement with the Young Writers Institute. Although she'd acted and done forensics, she'd never performed her own work before Saturday. "I'm excited about this," she said. "I otherwise wouldn't get to perform my own things." Credit Erin Faulk
Evan, one of the Young Steel poets, reads an original work Saturday night at Cannon Coffee. Credit Erin Faulk
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Jude Waldo (a.k.a Kimberly Reinwald) of Mt. Lebanon performs her original, "Cooler." Credit Erin Faulk http://o2.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/273x203/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/f2e6abfdbbdd76c5ef3d54da372fade0
Kate Meade, 17, of Natrona Heights, reads her original, "Step Inside." Credit Erin Faulk http://o2.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/273x203/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/6d9d16718fcc3f415083f4dd92dc736d
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This is not the poetry you studied in Freshman English, although you might sit in class with some of these young poets.

In their debut event, the poets of Young Steel gathered at Cannon Coffee Saturday night for a slam poetry competition. The winner was 16-year-old Anna Voelker of North Hills, and Gabe Rosenberg took second place.

The group is mentored by members of Steel City Slam, Pittsburgh's adult slam poetry group. Since Young Steel members range in age from about 14 to 18 and aren't old enough to perform in the clubs or bars where Steel City Slam usually reads, the coffeehouse gave them a venue for their own art.

Tera McIntosh, a Steel City Slam member who helped organize the event, said she hopes to hold Young Steel slam competitions every month. Young Steel has a Facebook page with more details.

Slam poetry is about voices, emotions, culture and performance. Check out our videos and photos to see what some of the young poets said about the event.

Related Topics: Poetry Readings, Steel City Slam, Young Steel, cannon coffee, and slam poetry

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Erin Faulk

9:25 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Editor's note: This article was updated Feb. 1 to include the name of second-place winner Gabe Rosenberg.

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