University News

Pickett Wins Region 9 Poetry Slam; Advances with Teammate Jones to National Tourney

April 3, 2006

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MACOMB, IL - - Gregory Pickett (Country Club Hills, IL), a Western Illinois University senior Board of Trustees (BOT) major, delights in poetry.

“Poetry is my one passion, my one talent, my one dream. It is the one thing that I want to last a lifetime,” he said.

Pickett recently placed first in the inaugural Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Region 9 Poetry Slam competition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Teammate Randy Jones (Aurora, IL), a freshman elementary education major, placed fourth.

Both men advance as part of a four-person Region 9 team to compete in the College Unions National Poetry Slam Tournament at Texas State University Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8.

“My view on nationals is that I’m going to win something,” Jones said. “People were clowning me that I got fourth place (in regionals), but the fourth place plaque is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever accomplished.

I know nationals are going to be hard, but with the way the judging is done, the playing field is leveled for everyone. The slam master picks judges out of the audience who don’t know anyone and who don’t really have a clue what slam poetry is,” Jones added. “There’s a saying for this kind of judging: ‘The best poet never wins.’ It really doesn’t make sense, but I still have love for it.”

Pickett said he knew he had found what he was meant to do in life back in the first grade when he won a contest to meet the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet laureate of Illinois Gwendolyn Brooks.

A nontraditional transfer student from Chicago State University, Pickett came to Western for several reasons, including being able to earn an individualized degree with Spoken Word Poetry being his sought-after profession. He started performing poetry during his freshman year at Chicago State; and after winning a poetry contest, was once again introduced to Gwendolyn Brooks.

Immersed in literature and poetry, he was in the presence of many great writers, including Haki Madhubuti and Kelly Norman Ellis. His experiences deepened his passion for poetry, and he was inspired to begin open microphone performances.

Within his first two weeks at WIU, Pickett had the good fortune to meet Belinda Carr, director of Western’s Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center. Brooks visited Western numerous times, and she was the first recipient of the University’s Honorary Doctorate in 1971.

“I asked Miss Carr if she could give me a stage and a mic,” Pickett said. “Now I have to keep going.”

At the start of the Fall 2005 semester, Pickett presented two original pieces of poetry at the Minority Student Orientation dinner, one of which was specifically written for Western’s University Theme: Global Challenges and Personal Responsibility. Titled “Response Ability,” the poem was a way to give back to Western, according to Pickett.

Jones said this is his first year actually writing poetry in slam style.

“My interest in spoken word slam poetry is just the feeling that you get when listening or performing,” Jones said. “It’s expression at a whole new level. Even though it’s very popular, a lot of people still do not know what slam poetry is.

“My goal is to have people react during my poem and say, ‘Yep, that’s how I feel.’”

Jones added the ACUI give out individual awards to the most entertaining poems from best all-around to best sex.

“I’m trying to win ‘Best Love’ and ‘Funniest,’” he added.”

Picket and Jones perform and compete representing Western’s Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center Renaissance Writers and Cultural Expressions student organizations.

Gregory is the son of Freeman and Mary Pickett of Steger, IL.

Randy is the son of Linda Jones of Aurora, IL.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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