Austin Poetry Slam

The 2002 Austin National Slam Team

Andy Buck, Matthew John Conley, Big Poppa E, Ragan Fox,
& Genevieve Van Cleve (Coach/Alternate)

Matthew John Conley started slamming on the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour & never looked back. Since then, he has appeared at six National Poetry Slam Championships as a member of teams from Albuquerque & Minneapolis. This year he is the 2002 Austin Slam Champion. He was the 2000 South by Southwest Champion & has appeared at SXSW 5 times, was the 1998 Best Spoken Word Artist in the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi's poll, and was a poet on the 2000 SlamAmerica Tour (where he was the Haiku Champion!). He also started the Drive-by Poetry phenomenon and received his degree in Creative Writing & Theater from the University of New Mexico in 1997.

"...a poetry legend...knocked a number of hecklers onto their critical keisters...a spiritual slapstick artist..."
-- The Pulse of the Twin Cities (Mpls/St.Paul)

Big Poppa E (aka R. Eirik Ott) is one of the best-known comedic poets in the poetry slam community and was called "funniest poet in the slam" by the Austin Chronicle in '98. BPE has recently been featured on national television as part of HBO's showcase "Def Poetry" and as part of Black Entertainment Television's comedy/variety show "The Way We Do It." BPE was a member of the 1999 San Francisco Poetry Slam Team, co-champions of the 1999 National Poetry Slam in Chicago and the only undefeated team out of 48 that year. He has also performed at SXSW twice, was on the SlamAmerica Tour in 2000, and formed WordCore (a quartet of poets called "the Sex Pistols of poetry" by the Sacramento Bee.) His chapbook series "The Wussy Boy Chronicles" was nominated to the Utne Reader's 'Best of the Alternative Press Awards 2000' and has garnered worldwide attention for his Wussy Boy persona.

"Big Poppa E steps to the mike ...energy is cranked so high ... drunk on adrenaline ... all bluster and bombast ... The audience leaps up, clapping hands, snapping fingers and stomping feet ... Call it revenge of the Wussy Boys."
-- The Washington Post

Ragan Fox has performed his unique brand of queer poetry in venues across the United States. As a member of the 2000, 2001 and 2002 Austin Teams, Ragan has represented Austin at the National Poetry Slam every year since 2000. Ragan received both his Bachelor of Science and Masters Degree in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, where, as an undergraduate, he was awarded the distinction of being one of the top ten individual collegiate speakers in the nation.

"Ragan Fox has great comic timing, an incredible talent for mimicry, a good sense of storytelling and tear ducts that could fill the Nile."
-- The Austin American Statesman

Andy Buck is a recent graduate from The University of Texas at Austin where he studied communication and English - two degrees he's completely unsure about. At 22, he is the youngest member of the Austin Slam Team, and this is his first time to represent Austin at the National Poetry Slam. Co-captain of the 2001 U.T. National Champion Speech Team, Andy has been writing, performing, and competing for years. He has no television experience, no worldwide attention, and no chapbook. All of this, he knows, will change soon enough.

"Andy knows how to stand in front of a crowd and he apparently knows how to tie his shoes, too."
-- Andy's grandmother's diary

Genevieve Van Cleve (Coach/Alternate) is a veteran of the Austin Slam Scene. A well-known comedic poet with a deadly-accurate wit, Genevieve is a two-time Grand Champion and was also a member of the '95, '97, and '98 Austin Slam Teams.

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