But to say that “it isn’t poetry” (as many do, with gusto) is closed-minded and, frankly, ahistorical. Of course, we don’t all have to be on the same page regarding our enjoyment of or appreciation for spoken word. Spoken Word is Poetry, Whether You Like It or Not Additionally, I was once called a “slap poet,” though that was probably a typo. “Spoken Slam Hip Hop Beat Jams” is not a real thing.The stereotypical imagery of berets and bongo drums is simply not what spoken word is today. Please do not call a 20-year-old spoken word artist a “beat poet” unless that’s some kind of explicit shtick they’re running with. “Beat Poetry” refers to the poetry of the Beat Generation, whose work is now 50+ years old.While there may be certain tropes or approaches that are more common in slam poetry than in other kinds of spoken word, the real difference is not about form-it’s about context. “Slam Poetry” is often used interchangeably with “spoken word,” but I would argue that it means something more specific: slam poetry is spoken word performed at a poetry slam (more on that later).You could also potentially use the term “performance poetry.” work that is about the page first and then happens to be performed (and how each approach impacts the writing itself), but I think this is a good starting point. We could go deeper with this, in terms of the difference between “recitation” and “performance,” or the difference between creating work that is meant to be performed vs. It refers to poetry that is read aloud it may contain elements of theater, stand-up comedy, storytelling, rhetoric, jazz, hip hop, or other forms. I will, however, share the framework that I use when it comes to terms: This is a can of worms, so I’m not going to to attempt to provide the ultimate, catch-all definition of spoken word here. Words Mean Things: A Point About Terminology Though I’m no voice-of-God authority on this subject, I am a practitioner my hope is that this piece can add additional clarity, depth, and nuance to the ongoing conversation.ġ. What follows is more so an illumination of a few pet peeves and misconceptions that I run across all the time. I do not expect every spoken word artist or listener out there to agree with everything I write here. Of course, this list is not about capturing all of spoken word and slam poetry culture in one piece of writing part of the beauty of our community is that we don’t all agree on everything, and the work that we do is fluid, dynamic, and impacted by context, identities, and intertwining thought-currents. In that spirit, I wrote this as an introduction to my book so that it could both contextualize my poems and offer an introduction to the form-and culture-of spoken word for anyone who may not already be part of that community. We all listen and learn in different ways, and these fourth wall-breaking moments can sometimes be as meaningful as the poems themselves. The more that I’ve moved away from slams and toward performing hour-long sets, the more I’ve grown to appreciate the power that can come from framing notes, artist statements, and organic dialogue with the audience. That being said, I love contextualizing poems. Especially in poetry slam spaces-you only have three minutes, so there isn’t really time for “artist statements.” It is also partly about calming the performer down, allowing their work to simply exist, as it is, with no apologies. That advice-to dive in, with no disclaimers or introductions-is partly about acknowledging the dramatic effect of a poem that starts from silence, from breath. This manifests as any number of statements like “this is just something I wrote when…” or “this isn’t really done I’m not sure if it has a title yet, but…” or even “this is terrible but I’m going to share it anyway,” etc. (Note: this is a slightly edited version of the intro to my book, available now!)Ī very common piece of advice in spoken word workshops or critique circles is “just do the poem.” So many of us, especially when we’re just starting out, instinctually want to frame, contextualize, or introduce the poem. (2022 edit: Be sure to check out my new Spoken Word and Slam Poetry Resource Hub) Guante opening for Saul Williams at Icehouse in Minneapolis photo credit: Elliot Malcolm
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