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Patrick Sanchez

Patrick SanchezIn 2000, Patrick Sanchez was a relative newcomer to Chicago's downtown gatherings of poets, though he had spent much of his life within Chicago's sphere. He attended college at Valparaiso. He grew up in northern Indiana, near Chicago, but, as he's said himself, rarely ventured north of 115th Street. Once he did, however, other performance poets began to sit up and take notice. Sanchez began appearing and competing at all three contemporary slam venues in Chicago at that time (Uptown Poetry Slam, Mental Graffiti, Words on Tap), and quickly made a name for himself with his intense and quick language. By spring of 2001, Sanchez had secured a spot for himself on the Words on Tap (Woodlawn Tap, Hyde Park, Chicago) national slam team before the venue folded in an untimely fashion.

Undaunted, he went on to compete as an individual at the Seattle Nationals in 2001. He continues to blend dramatic and performance techniques with poetry in PolyRhythmic, a collective of writers, musicians, visual artists, and other performing artists drawn from Chicago's diverse literary community. In 2002, however, he took a sabbatical from performance poetry and, importantly, to earn an education by enlisting in the US Air Force. Chicago looks forward to his full-time return to poetry and performance at the end of his education and tours of duty.

Animals Uncurl in the Cold Spaces
audio | video
a poem on disintegrating relationships; recorded at the Woodlawn Tap on 27 April 2001, the evening Sanchez won his slot in the national slam team.
Letter to America, to My Family
audio | video
a poem on the repression of our past cultures, where that represssion is often swallowed by ourselves or our own families; recorded at the Woodlawn Tap, 27 April 2001
Caged
a love poem; recorded at the Chicago Public Library, for an e-poets link-up with London, 7 April 2001
Ode to Independence
Sanchez' signature poem from 2000-2001; recorded at the CPL, 7 April 2001. According to the artist, this particular performance is the slowest version ever.