Kevin "Chesko" Briancesco's foray into performance poetry began like most: in 2004, he went onto Limewire, searched for the word "Mullet," and a poem by Sage Francis popped up. He then googled "Sage Francis," ended up at a website for a poetry slam, became immediately intrigued, and, having not written a poem since junior high, began his spoken word career...just like most...right? Since that fateful day, Chesko has been a member of three national slam teams, been published in several journals including the NPS anthology and the Berkeley Poetry Review, and won numerous awards for his performance endeavors.
Chesko is part of the new breed of poet/academics having presented both his creative work and essays (focusing on topics such as Performance Studies, Feminist Rhetoric, Critical Cultural Theory, and New Media Studies) at numerous national communication conferences. He graduated from San Francisco State University Summa Cum Laude in 2006, received his MA at Arizona State University in Communication Studies in 2008, and is currently in the first year of a highly regarded MFA program in Theatre For Youth also at Arizona State University.
Throughout his journey, however, Chesko has remained the same goofy kid that entered the poetry slam community to begin with, stating:
"When Im not fighting pirates or performing poetry, I am probably drawing pictures of ninjas and unicorns. Im not much of a poet yet, but I really like telling stories and find the idea of microphones fascinating. So, until I become a better writer or stop being fascinated with the mundane, I will amuse myself by infusing numerous references in my poems to kittens, candy, shooting stars, fireworks, the word awesome, pirates, bears, choo-choo trains, butterflies, crayons, and ponies, especially ponies. In summation, I hope I never become a better writer because its a lot more fun to write about those things."
Awards/Accolades:
- 2008 Member of the Phoenix Poetry Slam Team
- 2008 Top-4 Paper ("The Glamorization of Marginalization") at the Western States Communication Association Annual Conference
- 2007 Mesa/Phoenix Grand Slam Champion
- 2007 Mesa (Essenza) Indie Slam Champion
- 2006 Top Collegiate Performer in Northern California
- 2006 All-American in Collegiate Speech and Debate
- 2006 Graduated Summa Cum Laude from San Francisco State University
- 2005 Member of the San Jose Poetry Slam Team
Blurbs:
"Chesko's poetry turns your eyes into crayons and then use them to scribble. It dizzies and devours and remains unpredictable until you realize that he's been making you see what he's been getting at the entire time; drawing out beautiful truths from your own vision."
-- Danny Sherrard
2007 Individual National Poetry Slam Champion
"Chesko is a mix between wise and wacky, like Willie Wonka with no midgets to help him. Or Candy - with an arrest record. He's a seriously funny man. Like Fatty Arbuckle before the bottle incident."
-- Jamie Dewolf
The Suicide Kings
"Beware of Chesko! He lures you with simple, beautiful tales about our most precious human moments. While his observations are always accessible, do not be deceived: his attention to detail is as remarkable as the stories he describes."
-- Corbet Dean
CorbetDean.com
"Sometimes it's easy to say why a particular poet resonates with me. I can usually pick out something about the writing or aspects of the performance that makes a particular poet stand out in my mind. But with Chesko, it's really the gestalt. It's the way every piece of his work stands together so seamlessly. This guy is simply rock solid, and whatever it is that he's doing, he always grabs me right from the first syllable."
-- Wess "Mongo" Jolley
The IndieFeed Performance Poetry Channel
NEW NEWS:
- Chesko is a member of the 2008 Phoenix National Poetry Slam Team! Along with Aaron Johnson, Jeremiah Blue, The Klute, and Myrlin.
- Chesko's poem "Fat Kids Floating in the Sky" is going to be published in the next edition of the Berkeley Poetry Review.
- Chesko is in the all-star bout on podslam.org against three other awesome awesome people! Go vote! Click here to vote!
- Chesko was accepted in Arizona State University's MFA program in Theatre for Youth!
-"A Womyn, A Wall, A Train, and A Child was featured on the May 23rd Indiefeed podcast! Check it out!
-Chesko is the 2007 Mesa/Phoenix Grand Slam Champion!
-"PCPeanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches" was featured on the Dec. 22 Indiefeed podcast! Check it out here!
-Made the second round of cuts and "Angelic Insanity" Has been published in the 2005 National Poetry Slam Anthology.
-Chesko is the 2007 Essenza Indie Champ and will be representing Mesa at the 2007 individual World Poetry Slam in Vancouver!
