Spoken Word in the UK is a comprehensive and in-depth introduction to
spoken word performance in the UK - its origins and development, its
performers and audiences, and the vast array of different styles and
characteristics that make it unique.
Drawing together a wide range of authors including scholars, critics,
and practitioners, each chapter gives a new perspective on performance
poetics. The six sections of the book cover the essential elements of
understanding the form and discuss how this key aspect of contemporary
performance can be analysed stylistically, how its development fits into
the context of performance in the UK, the ways in which its performers
reach and engage with their audiences, and its place in the education
system. Each chapter is a case study of one key aspect, example, or
context of spoken word performance, combining to make the most
wide-ranging account of this form of performance currently available.
This is a crucial and ground-breaking companion for those studying or
teaching spoken word performance, as well as scholars and researchers
across the fields of theatre and performance studies, literary studies,
and cultural studies.
