Foolscap Books owner Marietta Bonaventure is packing her books into cardboard boxes and taking out shelves that once filled her store. Bonaventure is preparing to close down. She also is preparing for one grand party, and everyone is invited.
Foolscap Books, located at 780 Blair Blvd., will host its last Poetry Slam on Saturday and celebrate the store’s closure after the event. Tickets are available on a sliding scale of $3 to $5 at the door. The festivities begin at 8 p.m., kicking off with an open mic where anyone brave enough to step up on stage can read their work. Following the open mic, Seattle’s all-female poetry group Oratrix will perform. After the slam’s conclusion, local group Eleven Eyes will perform until the wee hours of the morning.
But of course, the main event of the night is the slam competition.
“It’s just really high energy and you will be moved,” Bonaventure said. “It will totally rock your world, especially with these six poets we have; they’re all really amazing
performers and great writers.”
The poets are: Cassie Sorensen, Jahan Khalighi, Kitt Jennings, Olivia Pepper, Sam Rutledge and Shea Shattuck-Faegre.
The six slam poets will compete for a spot on the four person team, which will represent Eugene, and compete in the National Poetry Slam Aug. 3 to Aug. 8 in St. Louis.
This competition’s structure is simple. It’s a three-round bout where poets perform one poem per round. The poets are scored by judges from the audience. These scores are cumulative throughout the three rounds; the four highest-scoring poets become the Eugene slam team. Poets must stay within a three-minute time limit or have their scores penalized. They also can’t use props.
Last year, the slam finals were a huge event. It was so well attended that Bonaventure had to put speakers outside so those sitting there could hear. This year, she said she expects the audience to be as big, if not bigger, especially since the store is closing down and there is more space.
“It’s kind of strange,” said Nathan Langston, a team member from last year. “I first got down there four years ago and there was a slam scene, but it was private, behind closed doors, and five years later, it’s just crazy — it’s an eruption.”
Once the team is decided, it will begin training for the nationals. To prepare, Bonaventure will start working with the poets to fine-tune their poetry.
“After May 15, we start rehearsing and do weekly rehearsals with the team. We’ll probably get some coaches in, with breathing and technique and delivery; we’ll get an actor or something like that to come in and talk about expression,” she said. “We’ll start work-shopping our pieces, so if somebody knows this is a piece they want to bring to nationals, we’re going to work that piece; we’re going to tune it up.”

Also during this time, Bonaventure and the Eugene team will fund-raise to get enough money to go to St. Louis.
“We’re doing a documentary May 16, that’s our first major fund-raiser, (we’ll be) selling CDs, we have gigs throughout the summer in clubs and we’re going to do the (Oregon) Country Fair,” she said.
The documentary Bonaventure is referring to is a film by Lisa Wells about last year’s finals in Chicago, which will play at the Bijou Art Cinema at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are on a suggested donation sliding scale of $5 to $10.
For some, the store closing is a sad event.
“I was in denial until I actually saw it,” said Khalighi, a competitor in the finals. “But Marietta is real dedicated and I’m kind of hopeful (about the future.)”
Bonaventure also has high hopes for the future.
“I feel so liberated, I’m so happy,” she said. “It’s interesting because so many people have come in and they’re like, ‘I’m so sad you guys are leaving,’ and I just tell them, ‘No, it’s so good,’ we’re losing all this overhead, all this commitment and financial hardship, it will be over. I feel great. I’ve been totally walking on air.”
She will continue the Poetry Slam at a new venue starting next season at Territorial Vineyards and Wine Company, located at 907 W. 3rd Ave. While its name may be misleading, the slam will remain all ages.
Once Foolscap is closed, Bonaventure will become an online bookseller, enabling her to focus more attention on creative endeavors, such as expanding the slam scene to a wider, younger audience.
“I’d really like to bring slam nto the schools because it’s so empowering and it’s this thing that anyone can do; you don’t need any special equipment to write and express yourself,” she said. “I’d like to get more younger people involved in that.”