Photo by:
Jose Guerrero, sophomore and president of DU’s Spoken Word Club, has taken his poetic prowess to the next level, earning a spot on Denver’s Slam Nuba, a competitive adult poetry slam team.
After competing against many of Denver’s most highly revered slam poets, including Jovan Mays, Kenya Mahogany, Suzi Q. Smith, Alejandro Jimenez and more, Guerrero qualified for a position on the team, which won both the Southwest Shoot Out Poetry Slam in Dallas, Texas, and The Denver 40 ounce Poetry Slam in 2008, as well as the National Poetry Slam Championship in 2011, which took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“I was on the Denver Minor Disturbance Youth team for two years,” said Guerrero. “We placed fourth in the nation at the Brave New Voices Poetry Festival my first year, then third my second year.”
Having established a recognizable role within the Slam community as a member of Minor Disturbance, Guerrero’s experience with the genre provided him with a strong foundation from which to advance through the adult-range event.
“The adult competition is a way different level than the youth competition,” said Guerrero. “Everyone knows what they’re doing; they’ve had time to craft their styles. They go pretty hard.”
Since his initial involvement in the poetry scene as a junior in high school – an interest which stemmed from the incentive of receiving extra credit for class – Guerrero has discovered a passion for poetry, cultivating a career within Denver’s booming artistic sphere.
Inspired by topics ranging from immigration to family history to fatherhood, Guerrero utilizes performance poetry to raise awareness about issues plaguing humanity, as well as to process and cope with his own personal struggles.
“Inspirations come and go, but most of my poems deal with human rights violations,” said Guerrero. “My son is most definitely an inspiration as well. Poetry is a way to keep our stories and traditions alive and he will carry my words when I’m gone.”
Maintaining an undeclared major, Guerrero intends to continue writing poetry and hip hop for a living while determining which path to follow in terms of earning his degree.
He also aims to eventually teach at the college level and provide poetry workshops to people in need.
He hopes to create an environment in which youth can take advantage of poetry as an outlet similar to the way he has.
“I definitely think that poetry has helped me get where I am today, as far as this university. It’s offered me a positive outlet of expression and it saved my life, to be honest,” said Guerrero. “I know it’s crazy to think that poetry is more influential than my mother and my father, but it just controls me. It is the essential thing in my being that keeps me concentrated and straight.”
Slam Nuba holds many major slam events at The Crossroads Theatre, which is located at 2590 Washington Street in Five Points, within close proximity to the light rail. The DU Spoken Word club also meets Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in the Commerce Room behind Jazzman’s.
