Thursday, July 29, 7pm – Poetry
German Poets U.S. Tour
Wolf Hogekamp, Lars Ruppel, and Sebastian 23
The poets will present original work in German and English translation and speak about their work in the German pilot project of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. Representing Germany at the 21st Annual National Poetry Slam to be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, August 3rd through 7th. Along with their work in popularizing poetry through the Poetry Slam, Hogekamp and Ruppel are working on a pilot project to expand the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP) to Germany funded by the U.S, Embassy in Berlin. The poets have worked with APP founder Gary Glazner to train over 250 German poets, students, and healthcare workers in using poetry to connect to people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.
Wolf Hogekamp organized the first regular German Poetry Slam in 1997. As a professional video editor he has been instrumental in the creation of poetry clips and using video technology to promote poetry to a wide audience. At 25, Lars Rupple is the youngest professional Slam poet in Germany. He began touring at the age of 16. Sebastian 23 along with Rupple are in the parody boy group, “Smaat Band.”
The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is a five day spoken word performance poetry festival. The world’s largest annual Poetry Slam event is held in a different city each year, and is host to dozens of Slam teams from around the US, Canada and Europe. The main focus of the festival is the tournament, but it also involves numerous workshops, showcases, classes, open mics, and fun side competitions that are open to watch and/or perform. Events begin at 10am and continue until 2am.
