The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library (JMRL) and Bluebird & Co. are organizing a Community Poetry Slam on Saturday, February 17. The event, at the Bluebird & Co. Annex in Crozet, is open to poets and writers aged 14 and up. Participants can perform their work and compete for a prize from Bluebird & Co. The event is free, with light refreshments available.
The Poetry Slam will be led by Sadie Adams, the current Crozet Teen Poet Laureate and a senior at Western Albemarle High School. Local poets Madisen Kuhn and Hannah Joel will be judges. The event is a competition and a celebration of all forms of poetry.
The event will also launch the first JMRL Teen Poet Laureate contest. The contest, initially a local Crozet competition, is now open to students aged 14-18 in Charlottesville city and Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson counties.
The JMRL Teen Poet Laureate contest winner will be a teen ambassador for a year, promoting poetry in the region. This role will allow the winner to engage with the local community.