Alvin Lau

Link:http://www.georgetownvoice.com/2007-11-15/leisure/east-meets-west

Alvin Lau, a performance poet armed with a B.A. in poetry from Columbia College Chicago and a love of hip hop, is sure to pop-lock his way into your heart with an earnest energy to match his moves.

If, as Lau describes it, “poetry slam is an Olympic-style literary competition,” then he is by far one of this year’s gold medal favorites.

A 24-year-old Chinese-American, Lau began as something of a poetic prodigy. When he joined Chicago’s first Youth Slam Team in 2001, he had never even written a poem before. The team went to Youth Nationals for the first time in 2002 and faced the defending champions, Ann Arbor.


Slammin’ poet: Lau belts his work with heart, soul and the occasional pop-lock.
Courtesy ALVIN LAU“They all looked at us like there was no way Chicago was going to win, and it seemed like other people had defined ideas of what slam was and we had no idea,” Lau remembered.

Yet Chicago ended up winning in a landslide. Since then, Lau has only found more success; he was named Amnesty International’s Poet of Conscience in 2007 and has come in 7th or better at the annual National Poetry Slam for the last four years, something no other poet has ever achieved.

He attributes his success to intentionally ignoring the competition.

“Lately, I’ve been undefeated in money tournaments and I think the best thing for [my writing] is not writing for the competition,” Lau said. “That’s something I’ve learned from [a fellow poet]; he doesn’t [care] if he wins or loses and that makes his work much more honest and beautiful.”

Describing himself as “rambunctious, honest and ambitious,” Lau’s poetry is an accurate reflection of his personality. In his uniquely rhythmic yet narrative style, Lau’s work addresses everything from gay marriage to Tiger Woods, often focusing on Asian issues.

“On the one hand, I feel like it’s my duty to give a cultural perspective, on the other hand, I don’t want to be [perceived as] ethnocentric,” Lau said. “I always want to be known as a poet first and an Asian second.”

According to Lau, performance poetry can range “from famous rappers like Talib Kweli and Mos Def to people who have been in Best American Poetry Series like Jeff McDaniel and Bao Phi.” Ultimately, Lau ends up representing the whole spectrum with a style that the Chicago Tribune dubbed “Billy Collins meets Kayne West.”

“There’s a big rift between academia and poetry slam and I don’t think that needs to exist,” Lau explained. “I often think that slam is too sloppy, and academia is too dry, and there can be a really healthy bridge between them. I’ve been trying to establish an academic framework for people to interpret slam, coming up with a vocabulary, making it more official. I’m literally writing the textbook on slam. I already have a major textbook publisher lined up, and I don’t have a deadline, so it’s pretty exciting.”

While Lau’s work may be shifting from the stage to the page, his honest and heartfelt poetry will be remembered for its grand hand gestures, periodically punctuated phrases and most of all, his pop locking skills.
- The Georgetown Voice, Vivian Chen

Alvin Lau, a junior poetry major at Columbia, believes that students have to put in a lot of their own work to complement Columbia?s services and find success as artists. He?s been able to combine his marketing skills, his performance talent and Columbia?s resources to advance in his field. Lau praises the faculty in Columbia?s Poetry Department, and said they?re willing to spend quality time with students. But the education, he said, is ultimately as much as a student makes it.
Lau?s ability to break into the industry is as much about his work ethic and opportunities set up by his agent as it is about his education.
Columbia can be expensive for many self-supporting students. Lau, who will be visiting New York next year to perform on HBO?s Def Poetry Jam, is worried about money now as well as after graduation.
?HBO is one of the highest paying gigs, but [they] make you cut your poem down from three or four minutes to two,? he said. ?Some artists are unwilling because it requires a lot of shuffling and possible sacrifice of integrity. Most poets get [a master?s degree] to teach as a backup plan.?
- The Columbia Chronicle, Andrew R. Steckelmann

When Slamarillo became certified by Poetry Slam Inc. last December, it needed to start bringing in guest and feature artists at its monthly poetry slams.

Several nationally recognized poets have performed at the slams.

This month Alvin Lau will join the list of successful poets to be featured at Slamarillo's monthly slams.

Lau was a fictional writer when he started attending slams at 17.

"I decided to sign up for a poetry slam partially to overcome stage fright and partially I thought the adventure would be fun," Lau said.

Lau is a two-time national youth champion, two-time Midwest individual champion and has been ranked among the top seven poets four times in four years.

He was named Amnesty International's Poet of Conscience this year, appeared twice on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and has performed and lectured at colleges and universities.

He said he enjoys seeing people become excited about poetry and creating an emotional resonance with the audience.

"A lot of art forms have become detached from their audiences," Lau said.

"I think slams and performance poetry really bring people back into the fold."

Lau's work often focuses on his personal experiences and on current events.

The Chicago poet is the son of Chinese immigrants.

Lau's current touring partner is Katie F-S , from Omaha, Neb. She started slamming in 2002 while at college in Iowa.

The tour is a first for her.

- Get Out Amarillo Entertainment

Alvin Lau Two-time national youth slam champion Alvin Lau's poems wait for him to fall asleep before slipping out of their cage and try to take over the world. The "Pinky and the Brain approach" so far unsuccessful, they resign themselves to being obsessive rewrites and being prodded with a ballpoint, biding their time. (Alvin secretly cheers for them.) - Live Poets