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Catherine Gibson
Union Board
ubpr@indiana.edu
812-855-4682

Last modified: Thursday, September 9, 2010

Union Board to host poetry slam featuring HBO's 'Def Poet' Shihan Van Clief

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Spoken-word artist Shihan Van Clief will host a poetry slam at Indiana University Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Indiana Memorial Union's Whittenberger Auditorium.

Shihan Van Clief

Shihan Van Clief

This free, non-ticketed event is hosted by the Indiana Memorial Union Board's Performing Arts and Canvas committees.

Students will have the opportunity to perform in front of slam master Van Clief, who is known for his appearances on the Tony Award-winning HBO series "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry." Van Clief will join the panel of judges at Union Board's monthly poetry slam and will help to choose the top three poets. He will cap the evening with a performance of some of his poetry.

Van Clief is a National Poetry Slam Champion (2004) and National Poetry Slam Finalist (2001, 2003 and 2005). In addition to six performances on HBO's "Def Poetry," he has appeared on NBC, CNN, Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network, Al Gore's Current TV and Billboard Magazine, among many others. He has appeared in several national commercial spots, and has toured the United States and overseas. He is featured in the spoken word documentary films SP!T and the sequel to 1997's cult documentary Slam Nation, Slam Planet. He has has independently released two CDs: The Poet and Music Is the New Cotton.

For more information about Union Board, call (812) 855-4682 or email ubarts@indiana.edu.