What we’re about
Rockland Poets hosts poetry slams, workshops, open mics, and other poetry events in Rockland County NY, in New York's Lower Hudson Valley.
We are dedicated to providing an outlet for people to create, share, and listen to poetry. We currently have an in-person poetry slam on the first Saturday of each month in Nyack NY, and have been hosting online workshops on Sunday, Thursday and Friday, in addition to online Open Mics over Zoom.
What is a poetry slam? A poetry slam is a performance poetry competition judged by the audience. Where traditional poetry readings are about supporting the poet, poetry slams focus on the interaction between audience and poet. Strong writing and strong delivery are both important. Whether you want to come out and participate by performing or by spectating, you are welcome. We've been putting on events since March 2011.
This is our monthly poetry mic in the side room of The Burger Loft on N Broadway in Nyack. We're doing it the 3rd Saturday of each month.
Doors / sign-ups open at 6 PM. Poetry starts at 6:33 PM. Anyone that wants to can come and sign up to read up to 5 minutes of original poetry, but we do cap the number of readers. If you're signed up by 6:30 PM and we have more than our max number, we'll randomize who gets to read.
$10 recommended donation at the door; no one turned away for lack of funds.
No featured poet this month; instead, we're having a Haiku Head-to-Head.
To sign up for the Haiku Head-to-Head: https://forms.gle/pvZg5YtbnFUWVr7L6
What is a Haiku Head-to-Head? Well, I was hoping I could copy and paste the description from an old event, but we apparently haven't had one in a very very long time, so...
What is haiku?
Haiku is a short poetry form from Japan. English language haiku (ELH) can be defined a few different ways.
The most common definition is a limit on line number and syllable count -- it's a 3 line poem, with 5 syllables on the first line, 7 on the second, and 5 on the third.
For spoken/read haiku, the line limitation is generally ignored, producing a 17-syllable poem.
Another interpretation of ELH -- I see this one most often from the Haiku Society of America, and their journal Frogpond -- is that a haiku is a brief poem (sometimes called a 'one-breath' poem) that is comprised of two juxtaposed elements. The longer part is called the 'phrase,' and the shorter part is called the 'fragment.' These are separated by a 'cutting word' in Japanese; in English, usually we use just a piece of punctuation or a line break (e.g. an em dash or a colon).
The listener hears two distinct things and reflects on them briefly, contemplating how the two things are related or how they inform each other. In a well-crafted haiku, this creates a feeling of epiphany or growing understanding. If the fragment and phrase are too obviously connected, the haiku is dull; if the connection is too abstract, the haiku is confusing.
What's Haiku Head to Head?
It's a kind of a haiku slam competition.
Two poets go up to the stage. Each poet reads or recites one haiku. The audience votes. The poet with more votes wins. This process is repeated until one poet has won twice (i.e., best two out of three). That poet wins the match and advances to the next round; the other poet is eliminated.
After everyone has competed in the first round, the first round winners compete against each other in the second round in a similar fashion. This is repeated until there is one winner.
Will there be a prize?
I don't know.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Aug Poetry Open Mic @ Burger Loft in Nyack NY + Haiku Head to HeadThe Burger Loft, Nyack, NY
This is our monthly poetry mic in the side room of The Burger Loft on N Broadway in Nyack. We're doing it the 3rd Saturday of each month.
Doors / sign-ups open at 6 PM. Poetry starts at 6:33 PM. Anyone that wants to can come and sign up to read up to 5 minutes of original poetry, but we do cap the number of readers. If you're signed up by 6:30 PM and we have more than our max number, we'll randomize who gets to read.
$10 recommended donation at the door; no one turned away for lack of funds.
No featured poet this month; instead, we're having a Haiku Head-to-Head.
To sign up for the Haiku Head-to-Head: https://forms.gle/pvZg5YtbnFUWVr7L6
What is a Haiku Head-to-Head? Well, I was hoping I could copy and paste the description from an old event, but we apparently haven't had one in a very very long time, so...
What is haiku?
Haiku is a short poetry form from Japan. English language haiku (ELH) can be defined a few different ways.The most common definition is a limit on line number and syllable count -- it's a 3 line poem, with 5 syllables on the first line, 7 on the second, and 5 on the third.
For spoken/read haiku, the line limitation is generally ignored, producing a 17-syllable poem.
Another interpretation of ELH -- I see this one most often from the Haiku Society of America, and their journal Frogpond -- is that a haiku is a brief poem (sometimes called a 'one-breath' poem) that is comprised of two juxtaposed elements. The longer part is called the 'phrase,' and the shorter part is called the 'fragment.' These are separated by a 'cutting word' in Japanese; in English, usually we use just a piece of punctuation or a line break (e.g. an em dash or a colon).
The listener hears two distinct things and reflects on them briefly, contemplating how the two things are related or how they inform each other. In a well-crafted haiku, this creates a feeling of epiphany or growing understanding. If the fragment and phrase are too obviously connected, the haiku is dull; if the connection is too abstract, the haiku is confusing.
What's Haiku Head to Head?
It's a kind of a haiku slam competition.Two poets go up to the stage. Each poet reads or recites one haiku. The audience votes. The poet with more votes wins. This process is repeated until one poet has won twice (i.e., best two out of three). That poet wins the match and advances to the next round; the other poet is eliminated.
After everyone has competed in the first round, the first round winners compete against each other in the second round in a similar fashion. This is repeated until there is one winner.
Will there be a prize?
I don't know.