Poetry takes flight

The Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival returns to Albuquerque this month with over 80 artists from across the country vying for Southwest Regional Championship titles and $5,000 in prizes. As boisterous as the buzzing insects for which it is named, Chicharra fills the city with buzzworthy verse and marks the start of spring.

The three days of competition begin on Thursday, March 19, and continue through Saturday, March 21, with opening and closing events on Wednesday, March 18, and Sunday, March 22. The entire festival is presented free of charge except for the final Champions Stage event, which requires a paid ticket.

For the uninitiated, poetry slams are spoken word competitions where poets perform in front of live audiences and panels of judges. Alongside the competitive bouts, Chicharra will host open mics and workshops, which are open to everyone, as well as a number of special events, including the popular Nerd Slam at Secret Gallery and a 21-and-over erotica-themed open mic and burlesque show at Albuquerque Social Club.

Local poet Zachary Kluckman, who founded Chicharra as a “wild daydream” in 2024, said the festival has grown far beyond his initial expectations.

“I’m just really thrilled, honestly, that this event has gained so much traction and become — I don't know if I’d call it a landmark, or a burgeoning landmark, on the cultural scene — but I’m excited that that’s happening,” Kluckman said. “We were even fortunate enough last year to be named one of the top five best arts events in Albuquerque Magazine.”

This year, the city of Albuquerque has proclaimed March 19 to be Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival Day. The official proclamation will be read at the Champions Stage on March 21 prior to the poetry slam finals. At the end of the evening, the individual and team winners will be announced and will receive their trophies.

This year’s festival also includes youth programming for the first time.

“We’ve got what we’re calling Voices Rising, which are our youth events,” Kluckman said. “Any youth between the ages of 13 and 20 can compete in the youth events and take part in that programming, which includes a workshop with former poet laureate (of Albuquerque) Hakim Bellamy, a workshop with Scarlett Cortez — a poet from Santa Fe — some pre-slam warm-ups, and then the actual Youth Slam competition, which is being hosted by New Mexico’s state poet laureate, Manuel González.”

Although registration for the adult competitions has already closed, Kluckman said there are still a few slots available for youth poets who want to compete. They may sign up on Chicharra’s website.

“This is pretty exciting for us, because we’ve been planning since Day 1 to include youth events, and now we’re at that point where it made sense to do it this year, and we were seeing a pretty good turnout,” Kluckman said. “I think we’ll get a dozen or so youth poets.”

“It’s really important to hold the door open behind us for the next generation,” he added.

One of the most highly anticipated Chicharra events is the Nerd Slam, in which superfans of comic books, anime and superhero movies answer trivia questions for the chance to read their “nerdiest” poems.

“I remember one year at another regional event, there was a poet who picked ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ as his subject, and he came in costume, dressed as a ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle,’” Kluckman said. “He ended up winning the competition and did this really amazing poem in costume. It was an amazing thing. And I know it sounds sort of silly to some folks ... but it’s a really fun opportunity for poets to engage their other interests.”

Another popular event is the erotica open mic and burlesque show at Albuquerque Social Club.

“It’s always packed. I think last year we had 150 people there, at least,” Kluckman said. “It’s a little bit bawdier and more risqué. ... And they have burlesque performers who dance in between some of the poems. Last year, we actually had a kink and fetish demo.”

Kluckman said the evening, hosted by local poet Kristin Patton, is tasteful and respectful.

“It’s a very safe space,” he said. “It’s just an opportunity for poets who like to write poems that are a little more Anaïs Nin-flavored, or more Sappho-influenced, to share their work. And it’s really a tremendous event.”

After the festival, whichever slam poet is crowned the individual champion will have the opportunity to compete at the national level.

“That’s what happened for our winner last year, Black Chakra,” Kluckman said. Jacob Mayberry, who goes by Black Chakra, is from Baltimore.

“He won the Chicharra Poetry Slam Festival, then I got him a berth at the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and he won that. So, now he will be representing the United States at the World Slam in Africa this year.” 

BlackBerry Peach is only for individuals, Kluckman said, but there is a new national poetry slam coming in 2027, so the winners of Chicharra’s team competition will be eligible to compete for a national prize for the first time next year.

“Essentially, what this means is that, in terms of poets who are looking to compete at the national level and beyond, Chicharra has become a central access point for those opportunities, which is really exciting,” Kluckman said.

One of Chicharra’s missions, Kluckman said, is to promote free speech.

“That means free speech for everyone, whether we agree with it or not,” Kluckman said. “I may vigorously disagree with what someone says, but I’m very much a proponent for the idea that everybody has a right to say what they’re going to say. Hopefully, it won’t be harmful. And if it is, then how people react is also free.”

Kluckman anticipates a fair amount of political poetry this year.

"Poetry — and slam poetry, in particular — has always had that sociopolitical element, like beat poetry before it, because, at the end of the day, any poet's job, arguably, is to respond to the world around them," he said.

Sometimes that means speaking truth to power, he said, and sometimes it means speaking across the political aisle.

“Art absolutely has the power to change perspectives and to change hearts, at least in the moment,” Kluckman said.

He sees the success of Chicharra as proof of poetry’s continued cultural relevance.

“Despite what some folks would tell you, poetry is very much alive,” Kluckman said. “It is very much vibrant and breathing, and it is very much still speaking truth.”

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at @loganroycebeitmen.