THE ARTISTS FORUM is proud to announce the winners for this year’s SPOKEN WORD COMPETITION, featuring 11 works that best highlight our 2023 Competition Theme – THE BODY POLITICAL.
These works were created by independent artists originating from 5 countries: Cameroon, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Finalists are (in no particular order):
“Bears with Bananas and Bubbles in their Boxers” by Lee Campbell (UK)
“Blood Howls” by S R Montevirgen (US)
“I Choose Hope” by Bertrand Momo (Cameroon)
“Mush / Poltiglia (Paper-Men)” by Luca Giuliani (Italy)
“Broken” by Sven Stears (UK)
“The Society in Which We Live In” by Kendra Marstall (US) & Sierra Marstall (US)
“Verse for a Second Childhood” by Alexis Krasilovsky (US)
“Subtleties of Shanghai” by Angela Kong (US)
“Together” by Marco Espirito Santo (Portugal) & Del Reginato (Portugal)
“Bone Ladies” by Maggie Rose (US) & Dan Preston (US)
“On the Other Side” by Ryan E. Torgeson (US)
See winner listings below.
Congratulations to all our Finalists & Winners!
Thank you to our 2023 Spoken Word Competition Jury: Ron Bremner, Patricia Carragon, Megha Sood, Amos White V, and Baron Wright.
Finalists works were showcased and winners announced the same day during our Juried Arts Awards Ceremony on October 15, 2023 at the Dolby Screening Room NYC — 1350 Avenue of the Americas at West 55th Street (Lobby Level) in Mid-town Manhattan. For Tickets, visit: https://filmfreeway.com/theartistsforumfilmfest/tickets
COMPETITION DETAILS
THE ARTISTS FORUM SPOKEN WORD COMPETITION, part of our Juried Arts programming, is open to poets seeking to gain exposure in the New York City and international arts and media market.
Its mission is to provide an accessible platform for creative writer/performers to present their best work for juried selection, increase artist communication and business contacts, provide career advancement opportunities, and publicly award the work and talents of creative artists.
Each submission, reviewed by a panel of industry professionals, is rated upon its individual merits. Finalists in each category are then judged against one another and a winner declared.
All selected finalists are eligible for a television studio or Zoom interview to be promoted on our online platforms and via THE ARTISTS FORUM: AFTV – a 20+ year arts based television program broadcasted from mid-town Manhattan in New York City.
THE ARTISTS FORUM INC., now in its 25th year, is a New York City based non-profit arts service organization specializing in events, juried competitions, and media for artists. The organization provides an unparalleled platform for emerging and mid-career artists to share their stories with the world’s creative communities.
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2023 SPOKEN WORD COMPETITION – FINALISTS, WINNERS, & JUDGES
AWARD LISTINGS
2023 SPOKEN WORD WINNERS
BEST ENHANCED PERFORMANCE: Mush / Poltiglia (Paper-Men) (Luca Giuliani, Italy)
BEST EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE: Blood Howls (S R Montevirgen, US)
BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE: I Choose Hope (Bertrand Momo, Cameroon)
SPOKEN WORD: Enhanced Performance
MUSH / POLTIGLIA (PAPER-MEN) – 2:53 min (2023)
Winner: BEST ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer/Director: Luca Giuliani (Italy)
Camera/Editor: Luca Giuliani, Giuliano Ciabatta (Italy)
World Premiere
ON THE OTHER SIDE – 3:24 min (2022)
Finalist: BEST ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer: Kellie Richardson (US)
Screenwriter: Jess Hughes Rodriguez (US)
Director: Ryan E. Torgeson (US)
Camera: Dylan Branshaw (US)
Editors: Catherine Cruz, Jose Cuevas-Lopez, Ryan E. Torgeson (US)
SUBTLETIES OF SHANGHAI – 3:26 min (2022)
Finalist: BEST ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer/Director: Angela Kong (US)
East Coast Premiere
THE SOCIETY IN WHICH WE LIVE IN – 3:26 min (2023
Finalist: BEST ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
Writer: Kendra Marstall & Sierra Marstall (US)
Performer: Sierra Marstall (US)
Editor: Sierra Marstall (US)
World Premiere
TOGETHER – 1:50 min (2022)
Finalist: BEST ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer: Marco Espirito Santo, Carla Prata (Portugal)
Director: Marco Espirito Santo, Del Reginato (Portugal)
Camera/Editor: Duarte Domingos (Portugal)
SPOKEN WORD: Experimental Performance
BEARS WITH BANANAS AND BUBBLES IN THEIR BOXERS (Short Version) – 3:58 min (2022)
Finalist: SPOKEN WORD EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer/Director: Lee Campbell (UK)
World Premiere
BLOOD HOWLS – 2:27 min (2023)
Winner: SPOKEN WORD EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer/Director: S R Montevirgen (US)
East Coast Premiere
BROKEN – 3:01 min (2023)
Finalist: SPOKEN WORD EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer/Director: Sven Stears (UK)
World Premiere
VERSE FOR A SECOND CHILDHOOD – 1:20 min (2023)
Finalist: SPOKEN WORD EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer/Director: Alexis Krasilovsky (US)
World Premiere
BONE LADIES – 3:45 min (2023)
Finalist: SPOKEN WORD EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Writer/Performer: Maggie Rose (US)
Director/Camera/Editor: Dan Preston (US)
NY State Premiere
SPOKEN WORD: Live Performance
I CHOOSE HOPE – 2:23 min (2023)
Winner: SPOKEN WORD EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Writer/Director/Performer: Bertrand Momo (Cameroon)
US Premiere
JUDGES
Ron P. Bremner
R. Bremner has written of incense, peppermints, and the color of time since the ’70s and featured in International Poetry Review, Poets Online, Paterson Literary Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Sigmund Freud in Poetry, Quarterday Review, and 1979’s Passaic Review (alongside Allen Ginsberg). He’s published 8 books and won Allen Ginsberg awards thrice.
Patricia Carragon
Patricia’s recent publications include Arriving at a Shoreline 2022, Bear Creek Haiku, Beat Generation 2022, Out Loud (LGBTQA Literary Arts Anthology), Red Wheelbarrow 2022, and When Women Speak Poetry, Vol. 1. Her debut novel is Angel Fire. Her books from Poets Wear Prada are Meowku and The Cupcake Chronicles. She hosts Brownstone Poets
Megha Sood
Megha is an award-winning Asian American poet, editor, author, and literary activist from New Jersey. She’s received the 2021 MVICW Poet Fellowship and several national poetry awards. Her work, The Medusa Project, has been selected as a digital payload to be sent to the moon in 2023 as part of the LunarCodex Project in with NASA/SpaceX
Amos White V
Amos is an inter-disciplinary multimedia artist, event producer, and exhibit designer. A graduate of the College of Human Ecology at the University of Maryland, College Park, Amos bridges his passion for the arts and human relations with the formation of THE ARTISTS FORUM.
Baron Wright
Baron is an award winning multi-disciplined artist, and motivational speaker. He is also the founder of BaronArts Inc. – a company focused on experiential learning, supportive arts, and personal development coaching. With over a decade of creative and transformational work experience, Baron uses innovative art-inspired techniques to help his clients.
