Schools
Local Slam Poet Heads to State Competition
Each week Patch will highlight an individual kid, youth group, teen, or sports team that's wowed us with their accomplishments. Meet Corey Shayman, this week's pick.
Corey Shayman
▪ Age: 18
▪ School: Deerfield High School
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▪ Accomplishment: Corey Shayman participated in this year's Poetry Out Loud contest and has had an incredible run of success. The senior won the DHS school semifinal as well as the final, which qualified him for the regional competition held at Northwestern University. For his excellent recitations of "Nude Descending a Staircase" by XJ Kennedy and "The True-Blue American" by Delmore Schwartz, Shayman placed second at the regional level and will move on to the state competition in Springfield on Friday.
In addition, Shayman took part in Louder Than A Bomb, a poetry slam competition whose aim is to bring teens together from different racial, gang, and socio-economic backgrounds. Unlike Poetry Out Loud, Louder Than A Bomb requires poets to write and perform their own poems in the form of hip-hop spoken word. Shayman competed in two preliminary rounds, reciting two of his own poems: "The Cussword is Hipster" and "The Time I Tried To Apply for a Firearm Ownership ID Card." He was then invited back for Louder Than A Bomb's semi-final event, which took place Monday.
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▪ Key to Awesomeness: Shayman was encouraged to write after all three original pieces he submitted to last year's Stagewrite show were picked to be read. "After [that], I started writing more for myself," he said.
Shayman tries to imitate but not plagiarize and his poems often refer to his own life experiences. One of his poems, "The Time I Tried to Apply for a Firearm Ownership ID Card," chronicles Shayman's real-life attempt to to do just that.
Shayman looks everywhere he can for inspiration; he watches HBO Def Poetry, a television series produced by Russell Simmons and hosted by Mos Def, to learn from the best slam poets. "My favorite poets on the show have been slam poets Taylor Mali and Steve Coleman," Shayman said. "I have also been inspired by Kevin Coval … He came to DHS during the Literary Festival and encouraged me to participate in Louder Than a Bomb."
