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Typewriter inspires prize-winning poem
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Jon Vonk, current Boise State poetry slam champ, has a strange
love, a deep obsession, a magnetic attraction to his typewriter. In
fact, he pecked out a winning poem on his newly scored Remington at
the Flying M the day before he awed an audience with a passionate
performance chalk full of heavy breaths, half-moans, and a bit of
quivering. The poem’s title: “Typewriter Fetish.”
Vonk was one of seven poets who competed Friday, Oct. 15 in the
Special Events Center for cash prizes in the Boise State Poetry
Slam, hosted and held once every semester by Student
Activities.
When asked about his animated performance of “Typewriter Fetish,”
Vonk said, “I was possessed by the evil demons, the type writing
demons — I don’t know. I just felt the spirit of the
typewriter.” The poem won him the round and ultimately the first
place cash prize of $100.
to judge the poets’ words and presentation thereof. The slam
consisted of three rounds. Each poet presented one poem, one to
three minutes in length. All were welcome to participate in the
slam, but to win money participants had to be “fee paying Boise
State students.”
Clad in corduroys and curly, pig-tailed golden locks, second place
winner Casey O’Leary seared the crowed with descriptive images of
nature, the politics of an independent woman, and meaty emotion.
When asked what fuels her poetry she said, “Injustice in all of its
forms is really what stirs me up, and love of the natural world I
guess — plants specifically…and maybe dirt.” O’ Leary has
been participating in poetry slams for about a year and said that
her poetry has evolved accordingly. “It was more about recognizing
that there is an audience and trying to convey some really
passionate part of myself that I wanted someone else to see. I
guess for me it was a coming out of self-pity introspection poetry
and more turning it into a form of communication, recognizing that
I am half of the experience and the audience is the other half,”
she said. The next slam is scheduled for April 1, 2005.
Jana Hoffman
Culture Writer
