Southern Fried Poetry Slam Elevated Pompano Beach into a Spoken Word Hub

By Kristen Hernandez

Pompano Beach, FL – When Pompano Beach native, Sharhonda “Eccentrich” Richardson, began performing her original spoken word poetry around the nation, she discovered that most major cities have their own distinct flavor deeply-rooted in performance poetry. Cities such as Charlotte, Atlanta and Charlottesville have embedded slam poetry into their cultural arts scene and spoken word poets have elevated such cities into poetry meccas.

Richardson brought the 32nd annual Southern Fried Poetry Slam, a four-day national competition, to Pompano’s cultural arts district, and it included education on the craft of writing, camaraderie and community. Workshops, bouts, events and “side slams” were spread out among the Pompano Beach Cultural Arts hub, which included Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCa), Ali Arts Center, Blanche Ely House and Museum, and the Pompano Beach Cultural Arts Center.

“The turnout was amazing, considering the [rainy] weather,” Richardson said. “Poet slots sold out within four minutes after the announcement, almost like a Beyonce concert. We had a backup plan that had backup plans, just in case. The city gave us four venues and we had four bouts going at once. Logistically, the weather caused some challenges, but we had a shuttle and volunteers offered rides.”

Lyrical masters from around the country flocked to the Pompano Beach Cultural Arts Center to compete for the coveted trophy and the title as the best spoken word poet in the nation. Poets from Texas, Virginia, New York City, California and as far as Hawaii immersed themselves into the Pompano community.

“My family has deep roots in Pompano and goes back five generations,” said Richardson, board member of Southern Fried Poetry, Inc., during a post-event interview with Villij News. “Charlotte is embedded in slam poetry, and I thought my city deserves this, too. We’re going to make Pompano Beach the hub for spoken word.”

Slams differ from typical spoken word events because slams are judged and scored, and usually take place over several days, with multiple “knock out”, or preliminary bouts. Richardson brought the gift of competitive spoken word to the City of Pompano Beach, and programs such as Lyrics Lab and Exit 36 Poetry Slam have elevated the city into a hub for slam poetry.

“Slam poetry is very competitive,” said Saria Goods, President of Southern Fried Poetry, Inc., in a social media video. “It’s where an individual or team performs an original work of poetry that is scored by a panel of judges. The fun part of slam poetry is that you can literally write about anything. It doesn’t have to be personal but about a topic you’re passionate about. Some poets choose to write about heavier content, things they struggled with in their lives, or traumatic events. Some poets like to go lighter, and they do poems that are funny. You’re going to cover the gamut of emotions when you come to a slam. This year, we’ve included workshops that tried to cover all different parts of poetry.”

The Workshops

Poets that were looking for ways to improve their craft had access to several educational workshops:

Telling the Story: Discussions on how to focus and refine poetry.

The Feature Set: Feature sets can run anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, and poets discussed how to keep the material tight, relevant, and moving.

Poetry Pathways: Narrowing the scope of a poet’s artistic vision can lead to multiple successful pathways within the poetry genre.

Avoiding the Burnout: Spoken word poetry is personal and emotional because everyone knows some form of pain. The audience can relate, whether it is spiritual, mental, physical or the pain of injustice. Poets discussed how to take care of mental health while tackling emotional subjects.

Side Slams and Events

In between preliminary bouts, SoFried held “side slams”, with events in between. Open mic opportunities gave spectators the chance to try spoken word without the pressure of scores and judges.

“To perform spoken word poetry, you just have to want to,” Richardson said. “You’ve got to get over the fact that your work will be judged and scored. It’s like you’ve got to detach from deeply personal work and place pride to the side. Slam poetry competitions are about coming together with like-minded people, sharing those important stories, educating yourself and honing your craft while empowering each other. When I perform in a slam, I go to learn and to tell my story. Scores and “winning” is secondary.”

“Side slams” included the Slam Masters Slam, Erotic Open Mic, and the Rookie Slam. There was “woo-sah” time during Pompano’s inspiring, colorful sunrise for Beach Yoga and Meditation. SoFried held a beach party, and a matinee movie at the Pompano Beach Cultural Arts Center that showed the classic movie, Harlem Nights.

“SoFried had such a massive turnout that we decided that when registration reopens in August, we’re expanding poet slots from 20 to 30,” Richardson “Every story is unique and we’re always looking for fresh voices.”