Public invited to compete in Poetry Slam

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – April 2, 2015) Mexican-American spoken-word artist David A. Romero will host a unique audience-participation Poetry Slam at California Lutheran University Wednesday, April 22.

Poets will showcase their latest works from 5 to 7 p.m. in the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art. Audience reactions will decide the winners and a variety of gift card prizes will be awarded.

All styles are welcome for the Poetry Slam, and the public is encouraged to attend and participate. Poems can be memorized or read off of the page. Poets must read and perform their own work in a poetry slam. There is no fee to enter and no previous experience is necessary.

A resident of Diamond Bar, Romero has performed on many college campuses throughout the country including Arizona State University, Drexel University in Philadelphia and UCLA. He has appeared multiple times on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, has opened for Latin Grammy–winning bands Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia, and is the second poet to be featured on the YouTube channel All Def Digital. He has won the Uptown Slam at the historic Green Mill in Chicago, the city where the poetry slam started in 1984.

Romero’s poetry deals with family, identity, Latino culture and social justice issues. His work was selected for Arte Latino Now 2015 at Queen’s University of Charlotte in North Carolina. A workshop created by Romero, “Last Words: Giving Victims a Voice,” was presented at the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education 2014 in Indianapolis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in film and philosophy from the University of Southern California.

Admission is free. The gallery is located on the north side of Olsen Road between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus.

For more information, contact curator Rachel T. Schmid at 805-493-3697 or rollandgallery@callutheran.edu or visit CalLutheran.edu/rolland.