Atlanta Resident Wins Roswell's Poetry Slam

A rising spoken word artist took an audience by storm with her win of Roswell's 10th annual Poetry Slam.

Ashlee "Lola" Haze, better known as Miss Haze, took home the $1,000 prize on Feb. 20 during her performance.

The event was part of Roswell's annual Roots African-American History Festival. This year's theme was dubbed "Slammin' in the Suburbs."

Thirty-four competitors came from all over the metro Atlanta area and as far as Birmingham, and waited in line for two hours to ensure they got a chance to compete. 

Haze is a member of the Java Monkey Slam Team based in Decatur, and has performed on the Atlanta Poetry circuit since the age of 14 when she became Grand Prize Winner of V-103's "Got Word" Youth Poetry in 2006.

She has been published in three national publications and has performed at the world-famous Apollo Theater. 

Other winners included:

• 2nd Place ($200): Adam Beane (Adan) of Atlanta
• 3rd Place ($100): Zack 'Fit' Linly of Norcross
• 4th Place ($50): Theresa Davis of Atlanta
• 5th Place ($25): Michael Harriot of Birmingham, Ala.

The 11th annual Poetry Slam will return in February 2015 during the Roswell Roots Festival. 

The Roswell Cultural Arts Center also plans to offer another type of slam starting in June. 

The 2014 Story Slam will give contestants the chance to perform in front of an audience and judges will be selected at random from the audience. The event will give contestants five minutes to relay their stories related to the chosen theme for the evening. 

The slam will run once a month from June to December, and the selected themes are: The First Time, Freedom, School Ties, Social Media, Falling, Coming Home and Nut Crackers. 

For more information on the upcoming Story Slam, visit the Roswell Cultural Arts Center's website or call (770) 594-6232.