Matthew Byrne | Writer, Founder, Digital Marketer

Beijing Meets Chengdu

On Friday 13th December 2019, Spittoon staged its first ever Intercity Poetry Slam — a simultaneous event connecting poets and audiences in Beijing and Chengdu via livestreamed video feed, as part of the MEGACITY event series. Both cities ran the same programme at the same time: doors at 8pm, slam at 9pm. The top three performers of the night were chosen by audience vote.

Beijing Slammers

Anthony Tao — poet whose work has appeared in The Cortland Review, Prairie Schooner, Borderlands, Kartika Review, Frontier, and Asian Cha. Co-creator of the poetry x music project with Liane Halton.

Lebogang Lebese — South African poet, teacher, and student, co-founder of Soul Ink and ScribeRites. Recently graduated from the University of Pretoria and based in Beijing.

Nancy Fowkles — writer who recently rediscovered her passion for the page after years away from it.

Sal — multifaceted artist working at an art museum by day, making lo-fi tracks by night. Published in Canvas Literary Journal, The Heritage Review, and Yes Poetry.

SJ Benne — spoken word artist and one-woman band, fusing poetry, jazz, soul, and classical vocal stylings over funky grooves using live looping.

Host: J. Penn — born and raised in New York, performer and writer who fell in love with words through Common’s The Light and never looked back.

Chengdu Slammers

Ally Moidin — South African slam poet, songwriter, and creator of slam poetry video platform Slam SessionZ.

Jacob Wanuch — English teacher by trade, writer by passion, originally from Canada.

Nakia — Jamaican adventurer and poet who uses humour as a thought-provoking weapon.

Theo — 27-year-old artist from New York with twelve years of writing and slamming experience. Chengdu’s best worst-kept secret.

Host: Annie Leonard — head organiser of Spittoon Chengdu. Fiction writer whose work has appeared in Spittoon Issue 1 and A Shanghai Poetry Zine.

The Venues

Beijing: Camera Stylo, 64 Dongsi Shiyi Tiao, Dongcheng District. Free entry.

Chengdu: 13 Lounge, No. 66-3-502 Mengzhuiwan Street, Bengu Building. 40 RMB presale, 50 RMB on the door.

Originally published December 2019 on the Spittoon WeChat channel. Part of the Spittoon MEGACITY event series.