Winner of a 2009 Orgie Theatre Award, The Encyclopedia Show is brought to you from the minds of poets and producers Robbie Q Telfer and Shanny Jean Maney. The Encyclopedia Show showcases visual art, comedy, music and spoken wordon a wide variety of subjects related to a chosen topic. Each month a new topic is picked from the encyclopedia and assignments are sent toa diverse group of writers, artists, poets and performers. This month: Civil Wars.

Featuring (Contributor – Theme): Diana Slickman East Coast Rappers vs West Coast Rappers (Writer/Performer); Dave Isaacson (Theatre Oobleck) Johnny and Luther Htoo; Kristiana Rae Colón (HBO Def Poet) The Lost Boys of Sudan; Andi Kauth (co-founder of the Chicago Four Star Poetry Club) Emma Edmonds; John Szymanski (musician) Guatemalan Civil War; Tre Iosbaker (Young Man) The Abraham Lincoln Brigade; Andy Junk (Chicago Film Society) Klingon Civil War; Jasper Wong (Artist) Mathew Brady/Civil War Photography.

With hosts Robbie Q Telfer (Author of Spiking the Sucker Punch) and Shanny Jean Maney (Author of Our Brave Faces Were Just Smiles); cast regulars: Fact Checker Ian Belknap (Write Club); Patrick Carberry (Fiction Writer); Tim Stafford (HBO Def Poet); Joel Chmara (HBO Def Poet); Edward Thomas-Herrera(Boy Girl Boy Girl); Lindsay Hunter (Quickies!); Evan Chung (Musician) - House Band Leader “The Encartagans”; and Emily Rose (Poetry Vet and House Manager) –as Jilted Emily Rose.

Chicago Slam Works brings together audiences, poets and arts organizations to promote the quality of oral tradition through well-crafted poetry.