Writing Wrongs first Full Year '09

Writing Wrongs had a pretty good year, for it being the first full year of its existence. The audience stayed up for the most part with a consistency I couldn't have really expected. We had some great features, I mean great. I'd have to say that my favorite features of the year were Blair and Brian Ellis, though we had so many just destroy the spot. I'm quite sure Rachel gave the best feature nobody saw (as part of an experimented Saturday night show, a spectacle I plan to make amends for in 2010). Some of our shows were so packed, we had to steal chairs from the coffee shop itself and we would still have a standing room. I saw so much growth amongst poets this year that I hope it becomes a trend for years to come. As far as slamming goes, here's how it went down

Women of the World Poetry Slam '09
Rep: Barbara Fant


If you've got a problem with Barbara Fant, then you're a horrible human being that needs to question your existence. Yeah, I said it. People LOVE Barb and that's before they hear her actually recite a poem. Then it just gets stalkerish. At any rate, this was Barb's second WOWPS appearance and she finished 24th overall

National Poetry Slam '09
Team Members: Wyk McGowan (1st), William Evans (4th), Barbara Fant (2nd), Mike 'Spike' Cowell (3rd), Ethan Rivera (1st)


This team was pretty fun. We should've had more than we did. This team did well. We should've done better. I'll chalk that up as my shortcoming for not utilizing the prep time the best in having our team ready to perform like we could've. Nevertheless, we finished 27th (out of 68 teams). Its the best finish for a Columbus team since 2004. I'm quite sure its a top five finish for Columbus' history. A nice building block, especially for the first year of Writing Wrongs being in competition

Individual World Poetry Slam
Representative: Ethan Rivera


Ethan was the lightning rod for Writing Wrongs for the duration of the year. He showed the most growth and work ethic in making himself a better poet and it showed when he won our IWPS slam-off pretty easily. He finished 76th at IWPS, which I know disappointed him initially, but it became evident that he was learning on the fly and earning the respect and admiration of his peers. His poetry will be a force to deal with in '10.

So many crazy things are set to pop off this upcoming year, I'm definitely happy to have such a great seat for the show that Writing Wrongs will be.