New Mexico Poets Cebrate Centennial at UNM-Valencia Campus

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From left: Damien Flores, Olivia Gatwood and Hakim Bellamy

LOS LUNAS, NM (03/30/2012)(readMedia)-- Three New Mexico poets will be featured in a celebration of the state's centennial on Wednesday, April 4, 6 pm, at the Student-Community Center.

Damien Flores, Olivia Gatwood and Hakim Bellamy will present their original works as part of the Spring 2012 Cultural Enrichment Series.

Damien Flores hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received a BA in English and Chicano Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2009 and was recipient of the 2008 Lena Todd Award for creative non-fiction from the UNM English Department.

He was named "Poet of the Year" in 2007 & 2008 by the NM Hispano Entertainer's Association.

Flores is best known as a member of six ABQ Poetry Slam Teams, as well as the two-time National Champion UNM Loboslam teams. He organized the College Unions Poetry Slam in 2008 and is also a three-time ABQSlams City Champion.

His published works include "A Novena of Mud" and "El Cuento de Juana Henrieta," published by Destructible Heart and Culture Lab Press. His work has appeared in Bomb Magazine, The Daily Lobo, Duke City Fix, and The Underground Guide to Albuquerque.

Flores has also been anthologized in De Veras, Earthships: A New Mecca Poetry Anthology, The 2006 National Poetry Slam Anthology, and A Bigger Boat: The Unlikely Success of the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Scene.

He is currently an educator in Albuquerque and hosts the Spoken Word Hour on 89.9KUNM-FM.

Olivia Gatwood is a young poet who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is the youth, college and city champion of 2011. After moving out of the country at age 10, she discovered writing as a new pastime. What was once short stories soon became short poems, and eventually she ventured into the world of slam poetry.

Inspired by performers such as the Cunninynguists, Buddy Wakefield and Sarah Kay, Gatwood indulges herself in many spoken genres. Currently she is featured with musical accompaniment on an album by Justin Hood, "The Falling Season."

Gatwood has been a part of the Albuquerque Youth Slam team for the past two years and was featured on HBO's Brave New Voices in October of 2010. She is currently a part of the Albuquerque Slam Team that won the Group Piece Championship at the National Poetry Slam in Boston, MA in 2011. She was one of the youngest competitors at the Individual World Poetry Slam in October of 2011.

Her first chap book, "I've Removed Myself from the Kitchen," was released April 18th, 2011. Within the next year, she hopes to move to a larger city to further her spoken word career and will publish a book by 2015.

Hakim Bellamy is a national and regional Poetry Slam Champion and holds three consecutive collegiate poetry slam titles at the University of New Mexico. His poetry has been published in Albuquerque inner-city buses and various anthologies.

Bellamy was recognized as an honorable mention writer for the University of New Mexico Paul Bartlett Re Peace Prize for his work as a community organizer and journalist and was recently bestowed the populist honor of "Best Poet" by Local iQ ("Smart List 2010 & 2011") and Alibi ("Best of Burque 2010 & 2011").

He is the co-creator of the multi-media Hip Hop theater production Urban Verbs: Hip-Hop Conservatory & Theater that has been staged throughout the country. He facilitates youth writing workshops for schools and community organizations in New Mexico and beyond. Currently Bellamy is the Strategic Communication Director at Media Literacy Project.

The event is open to the public. Refreshments will be served. The Student-Community Center is located on the south side of the campus near the south parking lot. For more information about the series, call 925-8970.