Poetry Slam 44 had over 10 poets participate with four top winners, on March 7 at the Max Bar and Grill.  

The back room of The Max was filled as guests and poets prepared for the night to begin. A total of 14 poets shared their work and the number began to shrink as the four rounds continued.  

Winners of the slam consisted of J.R. Brown in fourth place, Abbey Larson in third, Nathaniel Ferry in second and  Jessica Palmillas in first place.  

First-time attendee, Lexi Micek, had a fun time at the slam.  

“It felt like everyone knew each other like it was a group,” Micek said. “It felt like I was included even though I’ve never gone there before.” 

Micek said the atmosphere of the room was overall very positive.  

“I liked the atmosphere,” Micek said, “how everyone was laughing and people would just shout from the crowd. It felt a lot more personal.”  

Micek viewed the commentary of the host, Vito Cole, as very entertaining and comical. Micek also admired the variety of poems each writer provided, specifically Abbey Larson.  

“I really liked the style that she wrote in and the way she presented it too,” Micek said, “it was like a whole performance. I think her poetry really inspired me just because I loved the writing.” 

Although this was not Palmillas first slam, it was her first win. Palmillas said that she does not usually get nervous about public speaking, however, she did have anxiety when it came to sharing her work.  

“I think it’s because it was personal to me that I was like, oh are people going to judge me,” Palmillas said.  

Palmillas did not know what to expect when it came to sharing her work at the slam.   

“Coming in not expecting to make it to the final round, it made it even more special,” Palmillas said. 

After realizing she had won her first slam, Palmillas was very proud of herself.  

“Some of the things I talked about have to do with my culture and first-generation problems,” Palmillas said. “I don’t think we have enough representation here, so I was happy to be a voice for people that go through similar struggles.” 

Palmillas advice to aspiring poets is to share their work, as they will inspire someone.  

“Don’t be afraid to share your story and to get personal because people really connect to that,” Palmillas said. “There isn’t any stories that aren’t worth sharing. Someone is always going to connect to it or really get what you mean.”