Winning Poetry Slammers Head for U.S. Finals

They survived five qualifying rounds since February and now they’ve won the Laguna Beach National Poetry Team Slam Finals.

The four winners who will represent Orange County at the National Poetry Slam in Providence, R.I., in August are: Derrick Brown of Long Beach, Steve Ramirez of Santa Ana, Paul Suntup of Irvine and Jim Dobson of Studio City. J.D. Glasscock of Costa Mesa will serve as alternate.

A crowd of about 100 turned out for the May 19 finals at The FACT Gallery in Laguna Beach. Five judges, picked at random from the audience, scored the 10 finalists during two rounds in which each poet received three minutes on stage.

Host Lee Mallory said $1,213 was raised to help pay the $3,000 cost of sending the team to Providence. That included money from the $5 admission fee and a raffle of literary items, such as two sets of chapbooks from Bil and Carole Luther of FarStarFire Press of Laguna Hills, who help support the contest.

As they did last year, the Luthers will publish a chapbook featuring the best work of each winner on the new team. Proceeds will help pay expenses for the team members, who also will do a series of fund-raising readings in the coming weeks.

Coming Up:

* Zuzana Bic will discuss and sign “No More Headaches, No More Migraines” at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. (714) 672-0120.

* Barbara DeMarco Barrett will interview Chitra Divakaruni (“Sister of My Heart”) on “Writers on Writing” on KUCI-FM (88.9) in Irvine. 4 p.m. Thursday.

* Randy Wayne White will sign “Ten Thousand Islands” at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 11931 Valley View St., Garden Grove. Noon Friday. (714) 898-2583.

* John Sanford will sign “Easy Prey” and Randy Wayne White will sign “Ten Thousand Island” at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange. 1 p.m. Saturday. (714) 538-3210.

* Candace Chambers-Belida will sign “The Secret Codes of Conduct for Marriage” at Borders Books and Music in South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. 2 p.m. Saturday. (714) 432-7854.

* The Rev. Crystal C. Bujol will discuss and sign “The Science of Your Mind I: A Path Through the Heart” and Kiki Hays Faktor will discuss and sign “My Journey to Serenity” at The Latest Thing, 270 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa. 11 a.m. Saturday. (949) 645-6211.

Send information about bookrelated events at least 10 days before event to Dennis McLellan at: O.C. Books & Authors, The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; or dennis.mclellan@latimes.com.