Katipunan Poetry Slam 2025

Saturday, October 18th at 6:00pm
Unidad Park & Community Garden
1644 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Featuring an all Filipino American lineup of emerging artists, published authors, and seasoned slam champions who are recognized both locally and nationally. Come see these poets compete for the grand prize of $500 and the Joe Limer Memorial Trophy. There’s no limit to what we can do with our words, now let the community hear our stories!

For Filipinos, the modern day poetry slam is an echo of the balagtasan—a poetic, political debate. The Katipunan were the revolutionary group in the Philippines who fought for independence against Spanish colonization in the 1890s. In honor of this history, KPS provides a platform for Filipino poets to channel the fighting spirit of our ancestors in this celebration of free speech, and celebration of us.

This invitational Filipino-American poetry slam is about identity, lived experience, and solidarity across communities. All are welcome!

The Competitors

Ashley Lanuza | @lookingforashley_
Ashley C. Lanuza is a writer and spoken word poet from Los Angeles. She has been published by Yellow Arrow Journal, LA County, and placed in the Katipunan Poetry Slam and FilAm Creative’s Spoken Word Competition. Ashley received her Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Christian Aldana | @xtian_as
Christian Aldana is a Filipinx artist, educator, community organizer (and sometimes drag king) based in Chicago. They want to live in a world free from imperialism, prisons, and police, where people don’t have to accept exploitation and enslavement just to survive. They write towards a world where we are all free.

Jade Phoenix Martinez | @jadephoenix_
Jade Phoenix Martinez is a queer trans femme Filipinx, genre non conforming artist, rapper, producer, but always a spoken word poet at heart. Jade’s work is a poetic expression rooted in the vision of art as a process of cultivating a collective liberation. Her work has been featured at venues, colleges, museums, festivals and universities across the world.

Janelle Paule | fb.com/janellepaulepoetry
Janelle is a writer and poet centering themes of self love, immigrant family experiences, mental health, and body image. She is the proud author of Brave: The Everyday Practice of Resilience, her debut self-published poetry collection released in 2018 – and she continues to share her words anywhere even just one person in the room needs to hear it.

Lourdes Gan | @xlunarlourdesx
Lourdes Marie Gan is an Asian American multi-disciplinary artist originating from San Francisco. Lourdes is the event curator of Kindred Spirits, D.R.I. P. Slam, a community organizer and COO for the poetry collective; OpenHeart.Spoken Word and above all else, a Mother. She is rooted in connecting communities through their creative journey. Her art’s purpose amplifies revolutionary stories regarding culture, healing trauma and empowering others from her storytelling. Find her work and beyond on Instagram @xlunarlourdesx and @openheart.spokenword as well as her published, featured editorials in VoyageLA magazine, ShoutoutLA, Bold Journey magazine and Blossom magazine.

Patrice Mead | @patty_rice
Patrice is a wife & mother, a clinical researcher, and forever a poet. She loves to write about her sweet daughter, feminism, STEM, and her experiences in the world. Poetry is a precious gift in her life and she is honored to share it with her community.

Peter Villafañe | @manilasworstexport
Peter Villafañe is a poet, zinester, and double Scorpio. Manila-born and Los Angeles-raised, he writes about his immigrant experience, queer and trans identities, and radical hope.

Soulstuf | @soulstuf
Soul Stuf is a second-gen Fil-Am poet from Red Hook, New York. Blending irreverent humor with earnest yearning, Soul loves to tackle love, loss, and belonging within his work and when not sharing his heart on the stage or on the page, can usually be found playing Magic: The Gathering.

TJ Simba-Medel | @tjspokenword
TJ is the co-founder of Tayo Co. which is an innovative data hub that empowers Filipinx/a/o communities by collecting data, fostering partnerships, publishing culturally relevant insights, and developing leaders to create an equitable and sustainable future. visit tayohelp.com

Host

arianna lady basco | @ariannabasco__
arianna lady basco, part of ‘the first filipino entertainment family’ of los angeles is a filmmaker, poet, actor, singer, author, and founder of palms up academy. catch her in HEARTSTORM film, HOWLING GALE music video, (BE)spoken at the chinese american museum, or any wednesday night at #RECESSmic.

Guest Judges

Einar Escoto | @mindsei_coaching
Einar Escoto is a recovering spoken word slam poet and author of the book, The Woman Inside of Me. He is a clinical hypnotherapist and reiki master, specializing in inner child healing and chronic pain management.

Alyesha Wise | @alyeshawise
Alyesha Wise is an award-winning, published poet, educator and speaker from Camden, N.J. Currently residing in LA, she is the Director of Programming for Street Poets, Inc., an organization mostly serving juvenile injustice-impacted youth with mentorship and arts programming. Alyesha has been featured on platforms and in publications such as OWN TV, BET, LA Times, Bustle, Afropunk, PBS, Buzzfeed and more. Other collabs include the ACLU, The Shabazz Center, The Nantucket Project, Brave New Films and the Google Interstellar Project. Ron Howard once wrote about Alyesha's work, "Very Powerful." My Older Brother, A Famous Rapper, is Alyesha’s latest book of poetry, published in summer 2025 by El Martillo Press.

Kuya Istilo | @kuya_istilo
Kuya Istilo is a creative director and designer pushing the belief that Filipino culture is not niche. He hopes to inspire the diaspora to proudly integrate heritage into their art and storytelling.

Justin Foronda | @justinnforonda
Justin Foronda—breakdancer, drummer, nurse, and restaurateur—founded HiFi Kitchen and Historic illipinos to honor Filipino American culture through food, music, and art. A community builder and creative force, he blends rhythm, vision, and representation while inspiring others to recognize their power to shape the world.

Tessa Albea | @tessaalbea
Tessa Albea is a content creator, host, and community storyteller with One Down Media. She uses video and creative projects to uplift Filipino voices, celebrating identity, connection, and culture through storytelling, showing up for her community and helping others feel seen, proud, and powerful in their truth.

Land Acknowledgment

Babaelan Collective | @babaelancollective @sustainableholistichealing @hinawaterswellness @chozinhealing
Babaelan Collective is a Filipino holistic and creative healing collective that brings communities together through sound, plant, and nature healing. We believe that holistic healing practices and resources belong to the people and we build community to make it sustainable and accessible to all.

Special Performance

Ancestral Vision Movement | @ancestralvisionmovement
Ancestral Vision Movement (AVM) is a Filipinx American dance company that fuses dance styles from the Philippines and the West to bridge diaspora to their roots. Founded in 2019 by Ally Vega, Ancestral Vision Movement has performed from festival to community stages such as the LAX Tom Bradley International Airport, the Larry Itliong Day festival in Historic Filipinotown and Carson, Filipino AF, Club Jeté, and more. AVM hopes to encourage Filipinos globally to tap into their cultural power to share movement and dialogue with others.

DJ

Gingee | @gingeeworld
Gingee is a Filipino American DJ, producer, percussionist and vocalist whose music combines the rhythms of Filipino kulintang gongs and other percussion instruments with genres such as hip hop, electronic and global bass with a dose of poetic lyricism. She has played at venues such as Coachella, The Ford Theater, Grand Performances, Grand Park, and toured in Europe and the Philippines.

Vendors

Art Vendor and Sunday Jump Resident Vendor
Building Press Co | @buildingpress.co
Building Press is a collaborative art project, offering an eclectic collection of art prints, zines, and stickers. We practice art making, story telling, and collaboration to uplift our community – our message is to love all that we have.

Food Vendor
Chef Ria of Sugba | @riadollybarbosa @sugbaskewers
With a career spanning 22 years, Chef Ria has worked in fine dining and casual establishments. She is currently working with Chef Alvin at Amboy when she isn’t popping up. SUGBA is a love letter to her 90s family gatherings centered around the grill in her parents backyard.

Mocktail Vendor
Halo-Hafu | @halo_hafu
Halo-Hafu is a small mobile catering business started by Kayze and Chris. It’s a union of cultures and love that weaves together the essence of their two distinct heritages: the Filipino halo-halo dessert and the Japanese-American hafu identity. Their delectable mocktails are crafted with a touch of Asian flavors, are ready to deliver a delicious ‘mixed’ experience.

Tea and Coffee Vendor
Teofilo Coffee Company | @teofilocoffeecompany
At Teofilo Coffee Company, our mission is to “Give Back To The Philippines”. We are driven by three core pillars that keep us focused on this mission. Authenticity, Uncomfortable Work, and Execution.

In Memoriam: The Joe Limer Memorial Trophy

The Joe Limer Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Katipunan Poetry Slam champion. Joe was a 3-time winner of the slam and beloved member of the Sunday Jump community. He was a cornerstone in the San Diego poetry scene, participating in local, regional, and national competitions. He was well-known for mentoring new poets, writing poems with a sense of urgency, and having an unwavering enthusiasm for the art of spoken word. He is greatly missed.

Joseph Peter Limer (September 19, 1973 – September 2, 2023), age 49, of San Marcos, California, passed away peacefully at his home after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer on Saturday, September 2, 2023. He was born on September 19, 1973 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Joe graduated from WVU Law School in 2000. He moved to San Diego a few months later, where he began his work as a Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at Palomar College. He was the winner of the Distinguished Faculty Award, a lifetime achievement teaching award. Joe was active in the APAHE, the Asian Pacific Alliance in Higher Education. Joe received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, where he did academic research and a paper on the commerce clause of The Constitution. He was a teacher and renowned slam poet, having been a part of the San Diego Slam Team for several years. Joe was published as part of the San Diego Poetry SLAM Team Chapbook of 2018. He was the cofounder of the Glassless Minds Open Mic and Poetry Writing Workshop hosted at Mira Costa College. He won numerous poetry awards and also held poetry workshops.

He loved to challenge people, especially his students and make them think for themselves. He was passionate about bringing out the best in others, whether through his work as a professor or through his mentorship and guidance in the poetry community. He enjoyed sports and going to sport venues. Joe loved spending time with his family.

Slam Rules

Order of poets is drawn at random, fifteen minutes before the slam begins.
Three rounds. All competitors compete in the first round. Top 5 advance to the second round. Top 3 advance to the final round.
5 guest judges are pre-selected and must not personally know the poets. There are three primary criteria by which to judge the poems: (1) quality of writing, (2) quality of the performance, (3) content of the work.
Poets will be scored on a scale from 0.0 – 10.0. Decimals are used to avoid ties. Of the scores the poet received from the 5 judges, the highest and lowest scores are dropped and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0.0-30.0.
Scores are NOT cumulative: every round will begin with a blank slate. The poet with the highest score in the final round wins the slam.
Order of poets in the second and final round is determined by beginning with the poet who has the highest score and ending with the poet who has the lowest score from the previous round.
In the event of a tie during the final round only, the competitors who are tied will go head to head in another round. In the event of another tie after the additional round, each judge will vote for their favorite poet from the tiebreaker round and the poet with the most number of votes wins.
Each poet gets 3 minutes (plus a 10 second grace period) to share one poem. Time starts when the poet starts speaking or engages with the audience, such as waving or inciting the crowd to cheer. A time keeper’s honest opinion is the final deciding factor in when a poem begins.
If the poet goes over time, points will be deducted from the total score. At 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the music will turn on and the poet will be disqualified.
Starting at 3:10.01, a penalty is automatically deducted from each poet’s overall score according to the following:
- 3:10 and under = no penalty
- 3:10.01–3:20 = -0.5
- 3:20.01–3:30 = -1.0
The announcement of the time penalty and its consequent deduction will be made by the MC or scorekeeper after all the judges have reported their scores. The judges should not be told that a poet went overtime until it is too late for them to adjust their scores.
Each poem must be of the poet’s own construction. It is acceptable for a poet to incorporate, imitate, or otherwise “signify on” the words, lyrics, or tune of someone else (commonly called “sampling”) in their own work.
Poets may not use props, costumes, or musical instruments.
- Props: Poets may use whatever is on stage and available to all poets while performing (for example, grabbing the mic stand is not using a prop as long as all performers have access to it). Performers should be careful not to put on or remove clothing while on stage as this could be considered a prop violation.
- Costumes: A costume is any piece of clothing or accessory that is worn on the stage which is not part of the poet’s regular street clothing. In addition, nudity such as performing in a bathing suit or going shirtless is considered a costume violation as that is not normal street clothing. To clarify, a costume is worn intentionally to enhance the performance. For example, a Batman t-shirt worn during a poem about Batman is considered a costume.
  - As for costumes, you cannot change clothes during the event. That is, the outfit you wear during one round has to be the same outfit you wear during the next round. Changing your clothes for the performance of a different poem could be considered a costume change.
Individuals who use a prop/costume can be immediately penalized -1.0 point if the host deems the violation to be in effect
Poets may not repeat poems from an earlier round. That is, a poem may be used only once during the event.