Thom Francis is the president of Albany Poets and has been organizing, promoting, and hosting open mics and poetry / spoken word events in Albany such as Nitty Gritty Slam, School of Night, Albany Poets Presents…, and the Albany Word Fest for over 15 years. As a poet and performer, Thom has been featured at many of the upstate poetry and spoken word events from Saratoga to Woodstock as well as LarkFest, Art on Lark, 1st Friday, and the Albany Word Fest.
We made it to the end of our first year of poetry slams last Tuesday night at Valentine’s. Nitty Gritty Slam #24 celebrated a great year of poetry and spoken word.
So with a little help from arithmetic one could determine that, if this event is held twice a month, #24 would mark the end of a year of slams, & indeed it was, & it also marked the (not quite triumphant, but undaunted) return of the Nitty Grit…
We are gearing up for a big week for Albany poetry and spoken word as Team Nitty Gritty will be heading down to Charlotte, NC for the National Poetry Slam
This is a new series at Francesscas Cafe during Troy Night Out, run by poet D. Colin. But before most of the poets arrived a neighborhood regular, Dan Schultz, stepped up to improvise a tune on an Irish tin whistle. Meanwhile other poets wandered in …
It was another hot night in Albany, but we were back downstairs, in cooler air, for another edition of the Nitty Gritty Slam at Valentine’s on July 17. This evening
What an incredible night of poetry in the not too hot and suprisingly haze-free second floor of Valentine’s. We even had almost enough seating for everyone who came in for
Tonight Nitty Gritty Slam, Albany poets entry to the world of Slam, had its 21st event, now legal to drink (& we did) — upstairs at Valentines while a band set up downstairs. Someone somehow scrounged up a bunch of chairs & benches so most of…
There has been a recent change in the rules here, allowing poets to read in both the open mic & the Slam, of which no one took advantage tonight. Avery began the open mic with his piece in praise of dance then sat down; open mic host Mojavi brough…
The official list of the 72 poetry slams that are going to be gathering in Charlotte in August for the National Poetry Slam was posted the other day on the
Last week at Nitty Gritty Slam #19 we introduced the world to Team Nitty Gritty. Shannon “In The Money” Shoemaker, Elizag, Kevin Peterson, and Poetyc Visionz will the poets representing
Nitty Gritty Slam #19 is in the books and what a great night of poetry and spoken word it was. This was a night of new beginnings and big announcements
The Nitty Gritty Slam has had some exciting things happening in the past couple of weeks and we want to share the great news with everyone! First on the list
