Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam - Softcover

O'Keefe Aptowicz, Cristin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933368829 ISBN 13: 9781933368825

Publisher: Soft Skull, 2007

Synopsis

Words in Your Face traces the rich history of slam poetry through the lens of the New York City scene that pioneered it. Author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz situates New York slam poetry in the history of oral tradition in poetry throughout history and around the world, with particular attention to the three major 20th century arts movements that helped set the stage for it: the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, and hip hop. Aptowicz explores the birth of slam at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café and the genre’s explosive growth as the media responded with events like Lollapalooza and MTV’s Unplugged. The book expands the canvas by examining the connections between academia and slammers, especially the poets of color, the youth slammers, and the burgeoning hip hop poetry scene. Interviews with key players like Chicago’s Marc Smith and San Francisco’s Gary Mex Glazner help tell this fascinating story from the inside.

About this title

About the Author:

CRISTIN O'KEEFE APTOWICZ is the author of four books of poetry -- Dear Future Boyfriend (2000), Hot Teen Slut (2001), Working Class Represent (2003) and Oh, Terrible Youth (2007) (all The Wordsmith Press) -- and is the founder the three-time National Poetry Slam Championship venue, NYC-Urbana. Aptowicz has enjoyed commissioned residencies with Chamber Dance in NYC and the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and has toured with her work throughout North America and Australia. She lives in New York City.

Review:

"Leaves no doubt that the slam poetry scene has achieved legitimacy and taken its rightful place on the map of contemporary literature" -- Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-2003

Aptowicz uses anecdotes, stories, and interviews to chronicle the life of this unique art form. The general public holds an image of an aggressive, in-your-face poet shouting words on stage, but the author shows a movement with surprising levels of depth and diversity. Although many may know the backgrounds and names of the poets who made a big splash on popular TV programs like MTV's Spoken Word Unplugged and Def Poetry Jam, the stories of Slam's beginnings and how it continued to grow in spite of its sudden popularity are what make this book so fascinating. Teens with an interest in writing lyrics will love the stories and will find Aptowicz's style accessible and entertaining. A number of photographs and addresses to major Slam venues are included, but there is no index or bibliography of major published works. Slam Poetry has spread to coffee shops, art galleries, and even libraries across the country; knowing and understanding its roots only enhances the power the style already holds over its audiences. -- School Library Journal

"A serious history with just the right amount of dirt." -- Gillian McCain, co-author of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Throughout the book, Aptowicz seems like a cool older sister with the inside scoop on the hottest pop-cultural phenomenon this side of the 20th century. She steers clear of academic analyses of the poetry world, opting instead to familiarize the reader with all the relevant controversies and debates surrounding slam, including the oft-touted accusation that slam is all show and no content...

Words in your face is perfect for slam newbies and fans of the Big Apple's seemingly endless supply of alterna-history tales. And for established fans, Aptowicz's juicy info on the competitive underbelly of slam gives an extra punch to an already perfectly researched read. -- BUST Magazine, April/May, 2008

About this edition

• Publisher: Soft Skull
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1933368829
• ISBN 13: 9781933368825
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400