Send Team Nitty Gritty to NPS 2015

In a couple of weeks, a team of very talented poets are heading from Albany, New York to Oakland, California for the National Poetry Slam. This is the third time that a slam team from Albany is performing at the national level. In order for the team to make it down there, though, we need your support to help cover some of the costs associated with the trip.

You may not be into the competition of slam poetry, but you can't deny the passion involved with being an artist and writer. We have a group of four poets who are very gifted and talented and they need our support to make it to Oakland for NPS

Nitty Gritty Slam began in September 2011 and has continued on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday’s of each month in Albany, NY. Over the past four seasons of the slam we have been able to send a team to the National Poetry Slam on two occasions (Charlotte 2012 and Boston 2013). After taking a year off, we want to send our amazing team of poets (Daniel Summerhill, Poetic Visionz, Eliag, and Amani) to Oakland, CA to compete at NPS 2015.

We want to thank you for your continued support of the poetry and spoken word of upstate New York over the years. We could not do what we do with that support. We have a diverse and dynamic community that is unmatched in the United States. We are looking forward to showing the rest of the country what we already know, “Poetry Lives in Albany”

Meet the Team


Daniel Summerhill is a writer and poet from Oakland, California. He has been writing since the age of 12 and has performed his works at colleges, universities, and venues in over 10 states since 2009. He has accomplished winning several individual poetry grand slams such as the The Golden Gate Poetry Slam, Cypher's Inc Slam, and The Empire State Slam. Daniel has also been previously named Youth Poet Laureate. He enjoys the honesty of the craft and being able to express for himself and others.






Poetyc Visionz is an Albany native who has been performing his spoken word art for nearly 15 yrs, positively. He was a part of the Nitty Gritty Slam Team 2012, 2013, & 2014, and is also a part of the Empire State Slam Championship Team of 2014. He is now working on his third CD project, along with a book installment.




Elizag was a member of Albany's first slam team in 2011 and the NYC-Urbana WOWPS rep in 2013. Her poetry collection Love Cohoes came out in 2014 and was an Indie Book Awards finalist. She performs her poetry regularly and widely, and also works as an adjunct teaching writing classes in Northampton Community College's online division.




A radical of the heart and pacifist of the mind, Amani spends much of her time contemplating the degrees of difference between humans, other animals and non-living things.

Committed to changing the world through both overt and subversive techniques Amani is a writer, educator and community organizer who uses the tools of artistic expression, urban agriculture and social awareness to impact change and foster a sense of empathy and inter-being in local urban communities. A recent addition to Albany’s slam poetry scene, Amani is enthusiastic about raising her voice and using the power of art to spark major social change in the Capital Region and the larger world.



Nitty Gritty Slam is sponsored by Albany Poets, Urban Guerrilla Theatre, and the Frequency North Reading Series at the College of Saint Rose.

Albany Poets is a local organization that survives only by the generous donations of the poetry and spoken word community of upstate New York. When you support Albany Poets you are keeping the art of poetry and spoken word alive and well in the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley.

For information on Nitty Gritty Slam and the team, go to http://nittygrittyslam.com .