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What is it? The poetry bouts were organized by the World Poetry Bout Association (WPBA), which closed its doors in 2004.

In a Bout, two poets face off against each other, reading a previously published or extemporaneous poem in round, like a boxing match. The poets read previously written poems for the first nine rounds; in the last round, each poet draws a word and must make up a poem about the word. The poets are scored by three judges, who pick the winner.

Sherman is the only four-time winner of the bout. He retired from the poetry bout in 2001 after his bout with Saul Williams. For more on each bout, click on the links below.

2001 Sherman Alexie v. Saul Williams
2000 Sherman Alexie v. Bob Holman
1999 Sherman Alexie v. Wanda Coleman
1998 Sherman Alexie v. Jimmy Santiago Baca

Though the WPBA no longer exists, you can find information on the new Web site:
www.minorheron.org

For all video tapes, and archival footage of past events and Circuses, please e-mail:
info@minorheron.org

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