Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!
0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8b9b0000Up to one e-mail a month asking for your insight on issues we plan to cover - you respond only if you have knowledge; otherwise ignore the requestAn occasional follow-up by e-mail or phone to get more informationConfidentiality - we won't quote you on the radio or the web without your permissionAn open line into our newsroom for you to tell us what stories are important to you, your family and your communityNo spam, marketing calls, or requests for money - your information is private and is not shared outside of a small circle of public radio journalistsA chance to help with national stories through our partnership with American Public Media, on programs such as Marketplace, Speaking of Faith, and American RadioWorksYour help will make our news coverage stronger:By giving our shows access to first person information and sources, new story ideas, a wider range of perspectives, and information that helps us identify under-covered or emerging issuesBy broadening our network of sources and strengthening our connections with diverse people around the regionBy helping us create deeper and more relevant reporting based on a diverse range of sourcesThe stories below have been informed by our Public Insight NetworkJoin the Public Insight Network | Frequently Asked Questions

Slam Free or Die

photo: Brady Carlson, NHPR

Slam poetry is all about finding a voice – combining the written word with a spoken performance to create new forms.

A group of New Hampshire slam poets have found a voice and a home in Manchester.

NHPR’s Brady Carlson talked with some of the members of Slam Free or Die.

Slam poets say they typically get just three minutes to perform – so they have to make the words count.

(Sam clip)

That poem is called “This is how I get.” It’s by Sam Teitel, a bearded Slam Free or Diehard with a tattoo of the word “Yeats” on his arm. Sam used to drive hours from his college campus to perform at the open mic nights, and to talk with – and learn from – the other poets afterward.

“Musicians get together and jam… we hang out and we read poems to each other, and we walk about the way the poems get read. So there is that community aspect to that performance.”

That community aspect was hard to find in Manchester not so many years ago, as slam organizer Mark Palas knows. He was looking for a community of writers like the one he’d had at the University of New Hampshire. But all he found was a lot of local talent scattering across New England.

“There would be a New Hampshire person on a different state’s team, and we said why are we letting all of our talent go somewhere else? Let’s invite them all back home and let’s have our own team.”

So he did. In 2006 he started hosting the weekly open mic nights at the Bridge Café, with a goal of sending a New Hampshire team to the National Poetry Slam. The next year they made it – though team member McKendy Fils-Aime says Manchester New Hampshire wasn’t exactly on the slam radar.

McKendy: “My favorite New Hampshire joke at the National Poetry Slam is, ‘oh, you guys are from England, right?’”

Mark: “Yeah, when we say Manchester, people immediately go ‘England?’”

After explaining where they were from, Slam Free or Die proceeded to show whothey were. Mark and Sam, who serve as the team’s coaches, noticed other teams had to start using their A material to keep up in competition. And McKendy, who occasionally needed some coaxing to go onstage when he first started performing, is now winning Slam Master awards at big events, thanks to poems like this one - a love poem in the persona of Count Dracula.

(McKendy poem)

This piece, called “Bloodlust,” is a Slam Free or Die favorite at the annual Valentine’s Day poetry night. McKendy waxes vampiric; other poets are romantic, and some just have fun. Last year one performer wrote a jokingly erotic ode to pudding.

Mark Palas says some poets work all year to find something new to say about love and present it at the Valentines show. In other words, the event has grown into a big deal, much like Slam Free or Die as a whole. It’s become the community Mark wanted when he moved back to Manchester  those years ago.

Mark, by the way, has been dubbed the Colonel of Slam Free or Die. As you might expect, the Colonel’s poem is a call to arms - to keep the community growing, and writing, and making its mark.

“When they ask you what Slam Free or Die has to offer, you tell them ‘We’re coming.’ When they ask you ‘Why do they call him the Colonel?’ You tell them I’m coming. And the poetry of this place and all the people behind it are coming with me.”

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.