Performance Poet in Kansas City
Abby Bland
Origin Story: A Poet In Kansas City
“She’s not
bland,
she’s spicy!”
When you visit one of our hometown open mics at Poetic Underground or one of my feature poetry shows around Kansas City, you’ll often hear this shouted out as I take the stage.
The phrase's origins go back to my slam poet roots at Uptown Arts Bar. When I was on the first national Kansas City Poetry Slam team we wanted to make chants for each other to hype us up when we got on stage to compete.
I may have made a name for myself by writing what we call “response poems.”
They usually go something like this:
“Response poem to the man who said Leia wasn’t important in Star Wars”
“Response poem to the man who called me fun-sized”
“Response poem to the man who asked about my GPA on our first date”
You get the idea…and maybe who I have a habit of responding to… and why they might call me spicy.
Slam poetry thrives on pulling an emotional response from the audience, and everyone loves to get petty with a poet on stage, which is how
I earned my Way onto the Kansas City Poetry Slam national and regional teams in 2018 and 2019.
It was called
“You ARe HEre”
I started Perofrming Stand-Up Comedy in 2022, as part of producing my first solo Show at the KC Fringe that year.
then Came Godzilla
My solo show “Godzilla’s Not a Dinosaur,” which I’ve been touring on the Fringe circuit since 2023 is where I really honed my craft blending comedy into my work as a performance poet. In Kansas City and beyond, audiences have responded with a lot of enthusiasm for this show. It won “Best of Venue” at its premier in KC and “Spirit of the Fringe” at St Lou Fringe Fest in 2025.
This is show is my coming out story told against the backdrop of the history of the Godzilla franchise. It is a love letter to nerds, the LGBTQIA+ community, and anyone who’s ever felt like society tried to put them in a box.
current career highlights
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current career highlights *
2025 He[art]land Arts Fellow
2024 “Best Poet in Kansas City” in The Pitch
Winner of the 2024 Central Avenue Poetry Prize
2023 “Best Poet in Kansas City” in The Pitch
2023 “Best of Venue” at the KC Fringe
2022 ArtsKC Inspiration Grant Recipient
2022 Queer Narratives Festival Performer
2019 - 2023 Program Director for Poetic Underground KC
2020 Woman of the World Poetry Slam KC Representative
2019 Rustbelt Regional Slam KC Representative
2018 Kansas City Poetry Slam Nationals Team Founding Member
Multi-time Kansas City Slam Finalist
Debut chapbook sold out with Perennial Press in 2020
What People Are Saying
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"I'd like your work Even If You Weren't My Daughter."
My mom
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Smart, unapologetic, and thoughtful
Jamie Campbell, KC comedian
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"I didn't like Poetry Until I saw Your SHow."
A dude hitting on me
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soulful, provocative, and thought provoking
2022 KC Fringe attendee
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"The cashier at target is single."
Also my mom
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a sheer delight.
A different 2022 Fringe attendee
Annddd…My “Official” Bio IF You Realy WAnt IT
Abby Bland is a performance poet in Kansas City, Missouri. She has a B.A. in English from William Jewell College and has a Masters in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management from the University of Missouri - Kansas City.
She is the former Program Director for the Kansas City Poetry Slam and Poetic Underground Open Mic. She is a multi-time finalist on the KC Slam stage and a competing member of the 2018 National team and the 2019 Rustbelt Regional team and was a representing Kansas City poet at the 2020 Women of the World Poetry Slam.
Her work focuses on exploring topics such as intimacy, vulnerability, and cultural expectations of the feminine and has appeared in Gyroscope Review, Ghost City Review, From Whispers to Roars and elsewhere.
She has taught writing workshops for all ages and skill levels, in schools, bars, and summer camps.
On The Blog
![Abby Bland Named a 2025 HE[ART]LAND Fellow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ebabccac39a0a160e9682b6/c67ebda2-f0f1-4788-bdaf-dbf0d0216163/Screenshot+%281%29.png)
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