TJ Natole
Biography:
TJ started in on the poetry slam team at SUNY Oneonta in 2003. He has participated in collegiate poetry slam nationals twice, once as a coach in 2003 in Fayetteville, Arkansas (the team placing 4th), and as a competitor in 2004 in Berkeley, CA (taking 5th place). He was runner up in the 2004 Richmond Grand Slam, toured up and down the east coast shortly afterward with Joseph LMS, and returned to Oneonta where He coached the 2005 Oneonta National Poetry Slam Team, who placed 43rd in their first trip to city nationals, held in Albuquerque, NM. Continuing on with poetry workshops and forums for middle and high schools, as well as community colleges, he helps spread the influence of spoken word to today's youth. TJ also finished as runner up at the 2007 Oneonta grand slam, competing at nationals again in Austin TX, where the team was disqualified, yet won the spirit of the slam award. TJ is currently pursuing a masters degree in linguistic anthropology at Southern Illinois University, focusing on the performative and educational aspects of poetry slams. Now back in Oneonta, he is coaching the SUNY Oneonta collegiate poetry slam team.
E-Mail:
natoleon@intangiblecollective.com