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NORWICH – Three-time world champion spoken word artist/slam poet Buddy Wakefield is making a stop in Norwich on Monday as a part of his ‘A Choir of Honest Killers’ Tour.
“If there were a national hall of fame for slam poets, Buddy would be a first round inductee,” said Richard Bernstein, Norwich High School English teacher, poet and published author.
Slam poetry has been defined as the art of performance poetry. It it commonly a competitive presentation of multiple artists who are then judged based on various components, with an emphasis not only on the poetry itself, but how it is conveyed to the audience.
In 2004, Wakefield won the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals, and the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands that same year — a festival where Wakefield performed amongst the national champions from seven European countries.
In 2005, Wakefield won the International World Poetry Slam Championship.
Wakefield has been featured on ABC Radio National, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, National Public Radio, and was signed to musician Ani DiFranco’s record label Righteous Babe Records. He’s a published author through Write Bloody Publishing with books including “Gentleman Practice” and “Live For a Living.”
Wakefield has taken the stage at more than 2,000 venues worldwide, yet is no stranger to performing in Norwich.