K-Dense• Show poetry

Hi. I'm Curtis E. Meyer.

I'm an essayist and writer of short stories and articles, and above all Slam/Performance poet living in Winter Park, Florida.
The majority of my work is crafted with performance in mind.

I am also one-fourth of Quarantine Unit, alongside writers/performers Jared Rice, NonaLeona, and Ronin.

Quarantine Unit (or Q-Unit for short), is Orlando, Florida's premier Spoken Word powerhouse, a quartet composed of four poets bent on spreading the impact of literary performance art to the masses through poetry performed as collaborative group pieces or solo works.

If you are interested purchasing a copy of Q-Unit's Spoken Word album Go Home & Die, please send a personal message to our myspace address

www.myspace.com/quarantineunit

with a preferred mailing address, and we will send you a copy upon recieving a ten dollar ($10.00) check to the address provided in return.

Purchases of Go Home & Die via snail mail, can be substituted for trades of poetry chapbooks, Spoken Word albums, musical compiliations, et cetera.

Merchandise bartered through mail must come with an accompanying letter explaining that merchandise included is in substitute for money. We love to support other starving artists, but please send us only artwork of your own creation, be it collaborative or individual.

That said, we'd much prefer cash. Order yours now, while supplies last.

I also custom design t-shirts.

Including Q-Unit t-shirts, my designs are available at

https://www.spreadshirt.com/shop.php?sid=9765

Two of my Q-Unit compatriots are featured on this site. Please check out my friends/team-mates NonaLeona,

www.allpoetry.com/poets/chocolatespear

and Ronin,

www.allpoetry.com/poets/Agosaol%20Brythwich

I also just completed my first album of solo poetry titled Certainy. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, they are ten dollars ($10.00) cash or check, and available through mail delivery if you contact me with an address to mail one to. I'll send you a return message once supplied with a check to my home address, which I'll provided privately. If you wish to contact me, here's my personal myspace address, but please, just because you visit me doesn't mean you're automatically going on my friends list:

www.myspace.com/kdense

Here are some venues I perform poetry at on a regular basis. If you live in or are going to be in the Central Florida area, you should check them out:

Open Mic Poetry Hosted By Tim Rumsey
Held every Monday at 8:00PM

906 West Fairbanks Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
Phone: 407-647-7685

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Di-Verse Words Open Mic/Poetry Tag
Held every Tuesday at 8:45PM

The Dandelion Communitea Cafe
618 N. Thornton Avenue
Orlando, Fl 32803
Phone: 407-362-1864

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Soft Exposure Open Mic
Held every second Wednesday at 7:00PM

Infusion Tea
1600 Edgewater Drive
Orlando, Fl
Phone:407-999-5255

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Open Mic Poetry With Chaz Yorick
Held every Wednesday at 8:30PM

Austin Coffee & Film
929 W. Fairbanks Ave.
Winter Park, Fl
Phone: 407-975-3364

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Speak No Evil
Held every Wednesday at 8:00PM

Mark's Caribbean Cuisine
10034 University Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32817
407-699-8800.

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Broken Speech Poetry Slam
Held every Thursday at 9:30PM

Stardust Video & Coffee
1842 Winter Park Rd
Winter Park, FL 32789-5819
Phone: 407-623-3393


Slam (For those curious who wish to ask the question): n. A form of competitive Spoken Word poetry with roots dating back to the first Olympics in ancient Greece.

In Slam, poets are scored for a number of rounds (typically three), by three or five judges randomly chosen from the audience on a scale of zero to 10 with one decimal point on a combination of performance ability and quality of written material. In the case of having five judges, the highest and lowest scores are dropped.

To wit, two 10s and a 9.5 equals a score of 29.5.

A "30" (Three 10s) is considered a perfect score.

For the most part, poetry slams have three rules that if ignored result in penalty:

1) Although quoting and parodies are allowed, all poets must present overall original work for all rounds.

2) No props, instruments, costumes, or other materials that would otherwise enhance the quality of one's performance are allowed.

3) All poets are given three minutes to perform onstage with a ten second grace period.

To find a poetry slam near you, or to look more into the genre, please go to:

www.poetryslam.com

www.slamnation.com

www.podslam.org


My resume, with references and contact information available upon request:

Curtis Meyer

RESUME

Job Objective: To find a fulfilling position which will enable me to continue my education, and if possible, utilize my passion for Creative Writing and Journalism.

Skills: Serving the public, customer service, organizational skills, excellent communication skills, both verbal and written (published), dependability, and fundamental computer knowledge.

Education: Currently enrolled at University of Central Florida, with a Major in Journalism and Minor in Creative Writing.

Graduated with an Associates In Arts degree from Valencia Community College (2005).

Winter Park High School (Class of 2002).

Credentials:
Ongoing writer for aXis Magazine (2003-2007)
Writer for The University of Central Florida Newspaper, The Independent (2005).
Writer for Valencia Community College newspaper, The Valencia Source (2004).

Work Experience:

Retail Clerk (June – September 2001) – Part-time while attending high school
Pinch-A-Penny Patio, Pool & Spa
5411 Lake Howell Road
Winter Park, Florida 32792

Dietary Aide (June 2002 – May 2006) – Part-time while attending college
Winter Park Towers
1111 South Lakemont Avenue
Winter Park, Florida 32789

Clerk/Cashier (May-June 2006) – Part-time while attending college
7-Eleven
2925 Corrine Drive
Orlando, Florida 32803

Dishwashing/Delivery (May – July 2007) – Part-time while attending college
O’Stromboli Italian Restaurant
1803 E Winter Park Road
Orlando, FL 32803

Parking Attendant for FrankCrum (November 2007) – Part-time while attending college
100 South Missouri Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33756

Internships/ Volunteer Experience:

Contributing writer for aXis Magazine (2003-2007)

Classroom assistant and writing buddy on behalf of The University of Central Florida’s Literary Arts Partnership with Ivey Lane Elementary School, helping 3rd and 4th Grade students prepare for the FCAT test (2006-present).

Guest speaker for the Orange County Correctional Facility, teaching poetry and writing techniques to juvenile inmates (2007).

Creative writing assistant at The Orlando Center For Drug-Free Living on behalf of The University of Central Florida, assisting troubled teens craft poetry, short stories, and improve their writing skills (2007-present).

Guest speaker for the Inglewood Community Center, teaching poetry and writing techniques to children and teenagers (2007).

Interests and hobbies: Performance poetry (Slam), reviewing albums, films, and literature, writing poetry, essays, articles, and short stories.

Notable Achievements:

Interviewed comedian Lewis Black for aXis Magazine (October 2003).

Interviewed Virgin Records recording artist Kelis for aXis Magazine (March 2004).

Interviewed Greg K, bassist for Columbia recording artists The Offspring, for aXis Magazine (April 2004).

Interviewed Jiro Yamagouchi, percussionist for Concord Records recording artists Ozomatli, for aXis Magazine (August 2004).

Interviewed rapper Mad Illz for aXis Magazine (January 2005).

Interviewed Epitaph recording artist Sage Francis for aXis Magazine (March 2005).

Interviewed Boots Riley, vocalist for Epitaph recording artists The Coup for aXis Magazine (July 2006).

Letter to the editor published in Rolling Stone (March 1, 2001 issue).

First-prize winner of young writers album review contest held nationally by Rolling Stone and sponsored by Coca-Cola’s soft drink dnL (2003).

First-prize winner in 250-word essay contest “Why Metallica Sucks” held by the Orlando Weekly (July 2003).

Poetry published in Mosaic Magazine (2004 and 2005 editions).

Winner of the Say Anything Poetry Slam 2006 Head-To-Head Haiku Tournament (May 2006).

Poetry published in Takedown Magazine (June 2006).

Recorded and performed on the album Go Home & Die as one-fourth of Quarantine Unit, Orlando, Florida’s premier spoken word troupe (June 2006).

Participated in the 2005 National Poetry Slam held in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the 2006 and 2007 National Poetry Slams both held in Austin, Texas as a performing member of Team Broken Speech representing Orlando, Florida.

Editorials published in New Voices section of The Orlando Sentinel (September 2, 2006 and January 6, 2007).

Poetry published in the collection Look! Up In The Sky!: An Anthology of Comic Book Poetry Edited by Ryk McIntyre, Melissa Guillet, and Editor X (Published 2006).

Poetry published in Crawlspace Magazine (March 2007).

Winner of the Broken Speech Poetry Slam 2007 Grand Slam Championship (May 2007).

Inventor of the Brianna, a type of poem written to commemorate divorces (June 2007).

Poetry published in The 2007 Broken Speech Poetry Slam Anthology (June 2007).

Short story “Kanye West In An Old Folks Home” published in The November 3rd Club Magazine (Summer 2007 issue).

Winner of the Broken Speech Poetry Slam 2008 Grand Slam Championship (April 2007), becoming only the second person ever to have the title both more than once and back-to-back.