Wits End Roster
Congratulations to the
2007 Upstate Slam Team!
Greenville, SC: Wits End Poetry is proud to offer congratulations to the new 2007 Upstate Slam Team featuring Slammaster Robert 'Moody Black' Mullins of Spartanburg, plus slam champion Moses Rickett of Greenville and slam veteran Mariangela Mihai, as well as our newest slammer SimpL. The Upstate Slam Team was chosen in January 2007 through open competition at Coffee Underground to represent Upstate, SC at the Southern Fried Poetry Slam in Columbia, SC and the National Poetry Slam in Austin, TX.
TEAM BIOS
Co- Slammaster. Moody Black dedicates himself to spoken word and helping local area youth through his work as director of the T.K. Gregg Recreation Center in Spartanburg, SC. He is the father of three beautiful children and has performed across the South East from Miami to Durham. He was recently featured on Turner South's "My South," and is a key member of Dirty Mentalz - a collective of positive artists working to enlighten and "edutain" the masses.
Mariangela was born in Romania and raised under the communist era for the first 9 years of her life. She became a member of the Upstate Slam Team in 2006 and represented the team at the 2007 World Poetry Slam in Vancouver. She says, "I owe my love for words and the insatiable thirst for knowledge to my father's image and influence, and to the breathtaking scenery of the little village I grew up in, in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains."
Moses has been slamming his hip hop infused poems since 2003 and has been a member of the Columbia, SC and Upstate, SC slam teams. A veteran of Desert Storm, Moses is one of the founding members for the popular hip hop group Projeckt Lotus. Learn more about his current projects and check out the new album at www.projektlotus.com.
SimpL is a hip hop emcee by trade who recently joined the Upstate Slam Team. He is the father of two amazing toddlers who are already demonstrating their musical talents at a young age. He has recently been focused on creating deeper and more meaningful songs with his artistic family Projeckt Lotus, who recently released a new album.
Co-Slammaster. Kimberly Simms is the founder of Wits End Poetry, which sponsors the Upstate Poetry Slam and hosted the 2004 World Poetry Slam. Simms is a published poet with her poems appearing in journals such as Eclipse, The Asheville Poetry Review, AIM Magazine, Growing Up Girl and more. She holds a Master of Arts in English from Clemson University and has recently become a 7th grade language arts teacher. Simms attended her first National Poetry Slam in 1997.
