This Saturday: A Tribute to Shannon Leigh

Pretty much everyone who's anyone in Austin's Poetry Slam community will be at Ruta Maya this Saturday night to commemorate the life and work of poet and author Shannon Leigh, who died on June 30 in a Florida hospital following a June 14 diving accident that left her in a coma.

The show, titled They Call Me Warrior after a work of Leigh's, features the Austin Poetry Slam Team, the Austin Neo Soul Poetry Slam Team, the Killeen Poetry Slam Team, the Austin Under 21 Poetry Slam Team, the Xenogia Spoken Word Collective, Cry Havoc Action Choreography, Blacklisted Individuals, Show Me Tiger!, and DJ Herman Mason. Mike Henry and B Fran will host. Additionally, the show will serve as an official send-off for the Austin-area slam teams that are set to compete next week at the National Poetry Slam in Madison, WI.

Shannon Leigh was a respected and beloved member of the Austin slam community. Starting at age 14, she was a co-founding member and key to the early success of the Texas Youth Word Collective. She went on to win the Austin Under-21 Slams two years running, and was featured last year on HBO's Def Poetry (season six). At last year's National Poetry Slam, she placed third in the nation from a field of more than 300 poets.

"It's absolutely necessary for the city to come together in this way to pay tribute to Shannon," said Mike Henry, Austin Poetry Slam slammaster. "Shannon was an amazing poet, and paying tribute to her not only allows us to celebrate her life, but helps the poets in this community to remember to live, write and perform with her passion. She embodied the best of what this community has to give."

Admission for the show is a $10 minimum donation; all proceeds will go to Shannon's family.