Spoken Word
A Cultural History
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- US$8.99
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A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A “rich hybrid of memoir and history” (The New Yorker) of the literary art form that has transformed the cultural landscape, by one of its influential practitioners, an award-winning poet, professor, and slam champion
“Bennett…transport[s] us back to the city blocks, bars, cafes and stages these artists traversed and inhabited…an instructive text for young poets, artists or creative entrepreneurs trying to find a way to carve out a space for themselves…Shines with a refreshing dynamism.” —The New York Times
In 2009, when he was twenty years old, Joshua Bennett was invited to perform a spoken word poem for Barack and Michelle Obama, at the same White House "Poetry Jam" where Lin-Manuel Miranda declaimed the opening bars of a work-in-progress that would soon revolutionize American theater. That meeting is but one among many in the trajectory of Bennett's young life, as he rode the cresting wave of spoken word through the 2010s. In this book, he goes back to its roots, considering the Black Arts movement and the prominence of poetry and song in Black education; the origins of the famed Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the Lower East Side living room of the visionary Miguel Algarín, who hosted verse gatherings with legendary figures like Ntozake Shange and Miguel Piñero; the rapid growth of the "slam" format that was pioneered at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago; the perfect storm of spoken word's rise during the explosion of social media; and Bennett's own journey alongside his older sister, whose work to promote the form helped shape spaces online and elsewhere dedicated to literature and the pursuit of human freedom.
A celebration of voices outside the dominant cultural narrative, who boldly embraced an array of styles and forms and redefined what—and whom—the mainstream would include, Bennett's book illuminates the profound influence spoken word has had everywhere melodious words are heard, from Broadway to academia, from the podiums of political protest to cafés, schools, and rooms full of strangers all across the world.
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In this immersive blend of cultural history and memoir, poet Bennett (The Sobbing School) traces the development of spoken-word poetry from the Black Arts Movement to the present day. He begins by recounting how he was invited—after appearing in an HBO documentary about a poetry slam competition—to read one his poems in front of a White House audience including President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. The moment launched his career as a professional writer and poet, and Bennett follows the recollection with a look back at the career origins of Miguel Algarin, founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, a legendary poetry venue that grew out of Algarin's living room in New York City's Lower East Side, and whose concept was influenced the Black Arts Repertory Theater/School, a Black Arts Movement collective founded in 1965 by Amiri Baraka. After spoken word's emergence in the 1960s as a democratic "vehicle for liberatory politics" and a space for diverse and marginalized voices, the burgeoning slam scene in the 1990s added a competitive edge, and today groups like Button Poetry, a hybrid YouTube channel and publisher, are helping to make "the future of the genre... even brighter." Bennett's enthusiasm for the subject leaps off the page, highlighting the resilience and adaptability of poetry and making clear how important the collective is to its progress. It's a spirited introduction to a vibrant art form.
