St. John's University Slam Team
Donation protected
Hi friends and family, far and wide!
We are the first ever St. John's University poetry slam team heading to the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) this April in Chicago. And we need YOUR HELP to get us there!
For years we attempted to start a poetry slam team at St. John's, but the school never supported our dream. So we decided to take matters into our own hands.
Eager to share our poems and spirits (and outfits!) with poets from around the country we launched this GoFundMe campaign to raise the $$$ needed to:
a) Register for CUPSI (775$)
b) Fly four poets from NYC to Chicago (400$ per poet)
c) Secure housing for five nights (1200$)
The team members are Thomas Vocab Hill, Will E. Luperon, Chloe Chen, and James Larkin. Their bios are below:
Thomas Michael Hill is a nineteen year old, poet and student- studying for his English degree at St John’s University. At seventeen, Thomas was the international Youth poetry slam champion. Since then he has been invited to perform at stages from Soweto, South Africa to the White House in his home town, Washington DC. Thomas’ passionate interest in broken form and experimental syntax creates work that draw separate breathes on stage and paper. He has recently been published in Crab Fat Magazine and the Hampton Review. Reach out and build with Tom Cat on all social media sites @TomCatPur or via email: [email redacted]. com
Willy Luperon is an artist, poet, graphic designer and sees no difference between them. Dominican born & Bronx raised, he is an Urban Word Alum. A member of the 2015 Urban Word Slam Team, he’s performed in such hallowed venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Apollo Theater, Lincoln Center, and The Met. Willy currently attends St. John’s University and has been published in the Lincoln Center Poet-Linc Anthology. As Urban Word’s Media Coordinator, he’s responsible for our online presence and digital and visual engagement across platforms.
Chloe is a full-time student at St. John's University and a part-time "tearista" at a café in Harlem. She has performed her own written pieces at places such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art for Teens Take the Met, at the 92nd Y as one of New York City's 2016 Youth Poet Laureate Finalists, at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for the Poet-linc poetry program showcase, and at the Apollo Theater as a sacrificial poet for Urban Word's 18th Annual NYC Teen Poetry Grand Slam Finals. When Chloe is not writing you can find her on the dance floor or surfing in her dreams with a good cup of tea.
James Larkin (aka DJ Cuddles) is a poet and performer from the Tri-State area who is currently attending St. John’s University where he is studying English. He was a member of the 2015 ConneticWord Slam team which competed in the Brave New Voices Festival in Atlanta, Georgia and was also a member of the 2015-2016 Urban Word NYC Youth Leadership Board. He has performed in spaces such as the Bushnell (Hartford, CT), The Apollo Theater, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Emelin Theater, Summer Stage, and has run workshops with ConneticWord. When he isn’t writing or performing you can probably find James running his fingers through his luxurious hair.
Please be kind and make any donation you can! We need all the help we can get to achieve our dream and YOU ALL are the driving force behind that. It would mean so much to us if you did donate and if you do we can promise that we will do our very best as individual poets and as a team at CUPSI!!!
We are the first ever St. John's University poetry slam team heading to the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) this April in Chicago. And we need YOUR HELP to get us there!
For years we attempted to start a poetry slam team at St. John's, but the school never supported our dream. So we decided to take matters into our own hands.
Eager to share our poems and spirits (and outfits!) with poets from around the country we launched this GoFundMe campaign to raise the $$$ needed to:
a) Register for CUPSI (775$)
b) Fly four poets from NYC to Chicago (400$ per poet)
c) Secure housing for five nights (1200$)
The team members are Thomas Vocab Hill, Will E. Luperon, Chloe Chen, and James Larkin. Their bios are below:
Thomas Michael Hill is a nineteen year old, poet and student- studying for his English degree at St John’s University. At seventeen, Thomas was the international Youth poetry slam champion. Since then he has been invited to perform at stages from Soweto, South Africa to the White House in his home town, Washington DC. Thomas’ passionate interest in broken form and experimental syntax creates work that draw separate breathes on stage and paper. He has recently been published in Crab Fat Magazine and the Hampton Review. Reach out and build with Tom Cat on all social media sites @TomCatPur or via email: [email redacted]. com
Willy Luperon is an artist, poet, graphic designer and sees no difference between them. Dominican born & Bronx raised, he is an Urban Word Alum. A member of the 2015 Urban Word Slam Team, he’s performed in such hallowed venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Apollo Theater, Lincoln Center, and The Met. Willy currently attends St. John’s University and has been published in the Lincoln Center Poet-Linc Anthology. As Urban Word’s Media Coordinator, he’s responsible for our online presence and digital and visual engagement across platforms.
Chloe is a full-time student at St. John's University and a part-time "tearista" at a café in Harlem. She has performed her own written pieces at places such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art for Teens Take the Met, at the 92nd Y as one of New York City's 2016 Youth Poet Laureate Finalists, at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for the Poet-linc poetry program showcase, and at the Apollo Theater as a sacrificial poet for Urban Word's 18th Annual NYC Teen Poetry Grand Slam Finals. When Chloe is not writing you can find her on the dance floor or surfing in her dreams with a good cup of tea.
James Larkin (aka DJ Cuddles) is a poet and performer from the Tri-State area who is currently attending St. John’s University where he is studying English. He was a member of the 2015 ConneticWord Slam team which competed in the Brave New Voices Festival in Atlanta, Georgia and was also a member of the 2015-2016 Urban Word NYC Youth Leadership Board. He has performed in spaces such as the Bushnell (Hartford, CT), The Apollo Theater, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Emelin Theater, Summer Stage, and has run workshops with ConneticWord. When he isn’t writing or performing you can probably find James running his fingers through his luxurious hair.
Please be kind and make any donation you can! We need all the help we can get to achieve our dream and YOU ALL are the driving force behind that. It would mean so much to us if you did donate and if you do we can promise that we will do our very best as individual poets and as a team at CUPSI!!!
Organizer
James Larkin
Organizer
Jamaica, NY