Teen Poetry Slam to Cap Lyrical Month at Caponi Art Park

This month (and early next month) Caponi Art Park is hosting a poetry jam, a film screening, and the annual Poets in the Park Teen Poetry Slam in celebration of National Poetry Month.

Caponi has more in a press release: 

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Caponi Art Park and Learning Center will host poetry programming for aspiring teen poets in collaboration with the School of Environmental Studies, Dakota County Library, and the Apple Valley Teen Center. All poetry programs are sponsored by Valley Natural Foods.

In its 10th year of the partnership, Caponi Art Park is working with two senior students at the School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley to coordinate teen poetry slam programming. Organizing the program with Caponi Art Park fills a senior capstone requirement for the students, who also gain real-world experience with arts administration, event planning, fundraising, and marketing.

The Apple Valley Teen Center will host Poetry Jam on Friday, April 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. as part of the poetry program. Youth in grades 6 through 12 are encouraged to stop by the Teen Center for an afternoon of poetry writing, reading, and snacks. Staff will be on hand and prize drawings will be awarded during the event.

Caponi Art Park and Learning Center and the Dakota County Library will also host a screening of “Louder Than a Bomb” the following day, April 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Teen Center. The documentary chronicles the story of four teams of poets preparing for and competing in the world’s largest youth poetry slam. This film screening project is funded in part or in whole from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

These events will culminate in a poetry slam on Sunday, May 5 in Caponi Art Park’s Theater in the Woods outdoor amphitheater. Poets in the Park Teen Poetry Slam will feature a spoken-word poetry competition emceed by slam master Cynthia French and music by local musicians. All are welcome to watch the slam from 2-4 p.m. Teens ages 12-19 are invited to perform their original poems and can register from 1:30-2 p.m. at the event.

More information for interested participants is available at http://www.caponiartpark.org/poetsinthepark. In the event of inclement weather, the poetry slam will be relocated to the Wescott Library in Eagan. Weather-related announcements will be made via the park’s website (www.caponiartpark.org), enewsletter, and Facebook page.