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.
