Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âThe First Person Who Will Live to Be One Hundred and Fifty Years Old Has Already Been Bornâ by Nicole Sealey.
1) Write down the first three facts that pop into your head. These can be scientific (scientists discover a previously extinct species), historical (Cleopatra living closer to the iPhone than the Great Pyramids), or even untrue (your nails and hair continue to grow after you die). If youâre stuck, feel free to steal some news headlines.
2) One person in your life you associate with each of these facts.
3) Three parts of your body and their purpose. It doesn't have to be their literal purpose (ex: âthroatâ and âchoking,â or âarmsâ and âkeeping others at a distanceâ).
4) Three animals you associated with each of the above purposes.
Pick one of your facts from #1 and one of the people from #2 â it doesn't have to be the same pair. Imagine telling that person about this fact: what would they think? Say? Do? Include at least one of the items from #3 and #4. (For a bonus challenge, associate different body parts, purposes, and animals than their original counterparts).
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Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âat sixteenâ by Justin Hamm.
1) One noun.
2) One adjective.
3) One verb.
We're doing word association for this one. Take that one noun and spend one minute making a list of other nouns you associate with it, or other nouns you associate with these new nouns. After that, take that one adjective and spend one minute making a list of other adjectives you associate with it, or other adjectives you associate with these new nouns. Finally, take that one verb and spend one minute making a list of other verbs you associate with it, or other verbs you associate with these new verbs. Write a poem with these words and only these words.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âManifestoâ by Phillip B. Williams (poem below the prompt).
Think of one thing you've struggled with over the years. It can be as big as "gender" or "family" or as small as "a peanut allergy." Put that aside.
Weâre going to draw a map here. Take a thing that is some way essential to your life. It can either be a literal thing (a car) or symbolic (a wanted poster), as long as it's a real and tangible object. Write it at the top of a page. Now weâre going to draw two lines beneath it, and for those lines think of two real and tangible things that make up that object (an engine and a wheel for a car, or ink and paper for a poster). Write two lines below each of those and do the same for them (rubber and metal for a wheel, pigment and water for ink). Stop here, or keep branching off as far as youâd like until you find yourself repeating.
Now write a poem about that thing youâve struggled with, but framed around that object and the breaking down of its components. How does a car relate to your relationship with your mother? How does a wanted poster tie into the way you love?
âManifestoâ by Phillip B. Williams
I.
Words are black on this page.
Each character in a word is itself
a body. When reading these bodies
forming the words âblack bodiesâ
one reads black bodies writing
black bodies. There are black bodies
on this page written by a black body.
 II.
A book is a collection of black bodies.
Some are written by white hands. Some
white hands write black bodies without
mentioning that the bodies are black.
When writing a book one groups black
bodies together to make a point called an
argument, which is expected to put up a fight.Â
III.
When reading one views the black bodies
and interprets them, takes the information
they present and draws conclusions or
questions. Oftentimes black bodies
are misunderstood and revised for better
understanding. When one buys a book
one buys black bodies. One owns black bodies.Â
IV.
When a text is too difficult many slam
their books and do not return to the avoided
seeing, understanding, lack thereof. Checking
out books from the library is the rental
of many black bodies. They must be returned.
Keeping them equals theft. Damage
to the rented black bodies will result in a fine.Â
V.
When a group of black bodies stands
out from the rest and needs to be remembered
because they all resemble each other, some
use highlighters to brighten the black bodies
they have chosen as important. Others may
circle or underline, which marks up the book
of black bodies, ruins the collective.Â
VI.
Most people who write will write on a white
page but when a black body writes on a white
page it often goes unnoticed. When writing
a capital âIâ the serif lines represent a pillar
which holds up the self. A held up self can hold
others up because it canât move and is therefore
reliably stationary. When writing âIâ one must
never write âIâ as it is a black body decapitated.
Either way the self must choose how to retain.
1) Five kinds of performances (examples: circus, play, musical, poetry slam, etc.).
2) Three encounters you regularly have (examples: talking to your mother, talking to people on Tinder, ordering coffee at Starbucks, etc.).
3) Three things you do to get ready every day (examples: turn on your computer, brush your teeth, pick out your outfit).
4) Three things you say every day (examples: âHow are you?,â âI love you,â âExcuse me,â etc,).
Everything we do in front of other people (and sometimes even in front of ourselves) is some kind of performance. Write a poem about one or more of your encounters from #2 in the language of #1. This can take many different forms: you can use it strictly as a source for imagery/metaphor/etc., or frame the encounter as if it were a play, a movie, etc. Are you a good performer? Whatâs going on behind the curtain? Include at least one thing from #3 and #4.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âFrida Kahlo to Marty McConnellâ by Marty McConnell. (Not by Frida herself, as is so often misquoted).
1) Three people you don't know who are famous. It can be celebrities or someone famous to you, personally.
2) Three problems, large or small, you're dealing with right now.
3) One thing that grows.
4) One thing that shrinks.
Write a letter as one of the people from 1 or 2 advising you on how to deal with your problem. Maybe Lady Gaga is telling you how to handle your bad romance, or your mother is giving you advice on your relationship with your father, or etc., etc., etc. What about them â their history, their personality, the reason theyâre famous to you or the world â makes them a trustworthy source of advice? Did/would they follow their own advice? Include both 4 and 5 at some point in the poem.
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Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âMy Fatherâs Diaryâ by Sharon Olds.
1) One connection through time to someone important â your father's journal, maybe, or a story your partner's mother told you about them as a child, or a photo of your grandfather at his high school graduation. If nothing comes to mind, think of something you wish you had.
2) One thing that only existed then (malt shops, AOL trial discs, those menstrual pads you have to attach to a belt, etc).
3) One thing that didnât exist then (social media, video games, Hot Pockets, etc).
4) One form of communication without language. Feel free to go literal (symbols, gestures) or metaphorical (love, windows).
Write a poem about the person from #1 â more specifically, about who they were. Are they the same person you know/knew, or different? How have things changed? How have they stayed the same? Would you rather have known that person or the version of them that you did? Do you think they would rather be that person again or the person they are now? Include each of the other items at some point in the poem.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âEvery Six Hours, the Cove is Scenicâ by Ellyn Touchette.
1) Three things only locals would know about your childhood home. (Home doesn't have to mean just your hometown â it can be the house you grew up in, the church you attended, your school, anything).
2) One thing only people who have never lived there would associate with it.
3) One thing only you know. It doesn't have to be related to the above in any way.
Write a poem framed around one thing from #1 that's actually about #3. Maybe the tire swing behind your house relates to the time you stole money from your brother, or how that one cashier at the convenience store would sell liquor without checking ID relates to an unrequited and unexpressed love of yours. Include the thing from #2 somewhere in the poem.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read "Advice" by Jonterri Gadson (below the prompt).
1) Three defining memories (good or bad).
2) Three defining people (good or bad).
This prompt is about the fallibility and, more importantly, mutability of memory. Write a poem about one of those defining memories. The twist: place one of those defining people in that memory who wasnât present in reality. This could be in the form of a narrative poem retelling the story or something completely different. What would they do, think, feel? What would you do, think, feel? Remember, âtruthfulâ doesnât necessarily mean âfactual.â
Either a good man
never walks behind you
or you never stand behind
a good man. If I could recall
where my father stood
when he told me, Iâd know.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read â Poem In the Voice of the Author's Herpes Simplex Infectionâ by Corrina Bain.
1) Three problems in your life that are tangible (a car you need to get fixed, a house you hate living in, your hair you can never get to do what you want, etc.).
2) Three problems in your life that are intangible (your relationship with your parents, your intimacy issues, the general concept of âlove,â etc.)
3) Three animals that hide.
4) Three places people go to leave (airports, bus stops, etc.).
Write a poem in the voice of one of the tangible things from #1 that's actually about one of the problems from #2. Make sure to include at least one item from each of the other lists at some point in the poem.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âThe Uses of Sorrowâ by Mary Oliver.
1) Three important people in your life, past or present.
2) One memory you associate with each of those people. They don't have to be present in this memory.
3) Three things you can put other things in.
4) Three words people use to describe eyes.
Take one of the people from #1 and their memory from #2. Write a poem about a lesson that person has taught you (purposefully or non-purposefully) in your relationship with them, and relate that memory to the lesson â use it as an example, an explanation, a demonstration. Include at least one thing from #3 and #4.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read âat sixteenâ by Justin Hamm.
1) One noun.
2) One adjective.
3) One verb.
We're doing word association for this one. Take that one noun and spend one minute making a list of other nouns you associate with it, or other nouns you associate with these new nouns. After that, take that one adjective and spend one minute making a list of other adjectives you associate with it, or other adjectives you associate with these new nouns. Finally, take that one verb and spend one minute making a list of other verbs you associate with it, or other verbs you associate with these new verbs. Write a poem with these words and only these words.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read the poem âWhen Tony Hoagland Tells Me My Maternal Instincts Are Impressive,â by Jenny Browne.
1) Three things people have said to you in an attempt to define you in some way. Example: Mrs. Farmer, my ninth grade art teacher, told my mother that I was âunteachable.â
2) Three childhood memories. The very first ones that pop into your head.
3) Three things you enjoyed in childhood.
Like Jenny Browne's poem, either title the poem or begin it with one of the things from #1: âWhen Mrs. Farmer, My Ninth Grade Art Teacher, Told My Mother that I was Unteachable.â Write a poem either constructing a defense against what you were called or giving evidence as to why it was true. Include at least one of the items from #2 and #3, if not more.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read the poem âParliamentâ by Dalton Day.
1) One punctuation mark (i.e. question mark, period, semicolon, exclamation mark, comma, etc.).
2) Three questions you find yourself faced with often â existential, personal, emotional, whatever.
3) Three statements you feel are absolutely true â existential, personal, emotional, whatever.
4) Three things you do when you're sad â either self-care or perpetuating.
Easy mode: write a poem either answering one of your questions or explaining the reasoning behind one of your statements. Hard mode: write a poem doing both. Either way, every line has to end with the punctuation mark you chose. No cheating and going back for a more suitable one! Include at least one of the items from #4, but don't explicitly say that's what you do when you're sad.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Find past prompts under the tag prompts.
Read the poem âResearchers Find Mice Pass On Trauma to Subsequent Generationsâ by Lisa Fay Coutley.
1) Five things that happened to one or both of your parents before you were born. This can be anything: a car accident, an addiction, a death of a loved one, a bad haircut.
2) Three parts of the body.
3) One kind of animal that travels in groups, and the name for that group (a herd of horses, a gaggle of geese, etc). Feel free to make up your own (a necklace of oysters, a crowd of quails, etc.).
Pick one of the things from #1. Write a poem about that thing's presence in your life as a result of its presence in your parent's life. You can take this a lot of different ways â maybe your mother's car accident led her to be overcautious in teaching you to drive, or maybe you got in your own accident as an adult, or maybe your car crashes have been more metaphorical than literal. Include at least one body part from #2, and whatever you chose for #3.
Every week at the Berkeley Slam, we run a writing workshop at 6:30 before the show. Weâre going to start posting some of the prompts weâve used in the past and those we use in the future under the tag prompts.
First, read âgrand re-opening of the nostalgia factory shut down for dangerous working conditions (itâs my birthday)â by the amazing Marty McConnell.
1) Three emotions beyond âhappy,â âsad,â or âangry.â
2) Three important people in your life, past or present.
3) Three places people live (city, town, village, farmhouse, etc.).
4) Three promises you have made yourself or others.
5) One thing you can't see in the dark. It doesn't have to be real.
Pick one of the items from #1, and one of the items from #3. Write about âthe [1] [3]â â Melancholy City, for example, or Furious Kingdom. You might be the mayor, or you might be just another citizen. Either way, the three promises from #4 are laws in this place, and the thing from #5 is a statue somewhere in this place. What happens there on an average day? What happens when one or more of the people from 2 visit this place? Explore this in the poem.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Anya is LIVE right now
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Itâs the return of Sam Sax to the Bay Area! Sam has been well known around the Bay as one of the most innovative writers around and last year he movedâŚ
This Sunday you can see poetry legends Patricia Smith and Willie Perdomo along with Lorna Dee Cervantes, Denise Jolly, Sonya Renee, Josh Healey, and a whole host of incredible poets including Berkeley Grand Slam champs, Katelyn Lucas and Jason Bayani. You can see this entire show for free! But those seats are going quick so you will need to register with the event here or you may not be able toâŚ
