Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival returns to Albuquerque

The second annual Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival returns to Albuquerque for five days this week, drawing over 75 of the top poets and spoken word artists from 30 cities across the United States. Like buzzing chicharras — also known as cicadas — the arrival of the poets is a sure sign of spring.

“This festival started as a dream I carried around for almost twenty years,” said Zachary Kluckman, the festival’s founder. “But it has always been about us, about community, and trying to create opportunities for people to encounter poetry in a profound, inspiring way.”

The second largest poetry slam event in the nation according to Kluckman, Chicharra will unfold across many venues all over the city, offering both seasoned and novice wordsmiths the chance to compete for a regional title and $5,000 in prizes.

The festival kicks off with a poetry reading and roundtable discussion at the Albuquerque Museum on the evening of Wednesday, March 19, featuring State Poet Laureate Lauren Camp, Albuquerque Poet Laureate Emeritus Hakim Bellamy, Sara Daniele Rivera and Scott Wiggerman.

The poetry slams take place over the next three days, along with many noncompetitive events, and ends with the Breaking Bread Poet’s Picnic on Sunday, March 23.

“My fondest wish for Chicharra is that we build something together that makes us proud, something that amplifies all of the cultures and voices that make us who we are and reminds the world that poetry is very much alive and growing,” Kluckman said.

“Right now, especially, we need our artists, our poets and writers, to have access to platforms where we can raise our collective voice and respond to the state of the world and the coming challenges,” he said. “This is often how we find our place in the world, by engaging with it through a creative lens.”

This year’s competitors will include Black Chakra from Baltimore, who won in the individual category last year, along with LadyK from Fresno, California, Billy Tuggle from Chicago and many more. There is also a team competition, featuring local Albuquerque favorites Voices of the Barrio, and last year’s winners, the Phoenix-based Ghost Phantom.

Besides the contests, the festival program boasts a book market, free writing workshops, themed readings and numerous events focused on nonslam styles of poetry, including haiku. There are several open mics designed to amplify marginalized voices, including LGBTQ+, trans and nonbinary, Indigenous, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander poets, veterans and poets with disabilities. A “nerd slam” will mix poetry with pop culture trivia. There will even be a late night erotica open mic with burlesque dancers at the Albuquerque Social Club on Saturday.

Notable workshops include “Ambient Noise in a Narrative Poem,” led by Pushcart Prize nominee David Meischen, “Write to Resist” by Billy Tuggle, “Chaos as Craft” by Brennan DeFrisco, and “The Lyric Essay as Omen and Discovery” by National Book Award finalist Deborah Taffa, who is also the director of the Institute of American Indian Arts’ master’s program in creative writing.

All events, with the exception of Finals Stage on Saturday, March 22, are free, and anyone may participate in the workshops, open mics and readings, even if you are not a competing poet.

The full listing of events and locations are available at cicadapoetryslamfestival.com.

Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival returns to Albuquerque

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers music, visual arts, books and more. You can reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com.