Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0916397661 ISBN 13: 9780916397661

Publisher: Manic D Press, Inc., 2000

Synopsis

Poetry slams—the Olympics of poetry—have become a cultural phenomenon. This groundbreaking anthology documents 10 years of poetry slams, with 100 poems from national slam champions and a dozen essays on how to run a slam, winning strategies, tips for memorizing poems, and more.

About this title

From Library Journal:

"Poems ask only that they be heard, which is the purpose of the slam," Bob Holman says. It has been ten years since Glazner produced the first National Poetry Slam (perhaps best described as a competitive reading), but many poetry enthusiasts remain virtually unaware of the phenomenon. This volume collects an assortment of slam poems and articles about the slams (setting up, judging, becoming participants, and group pieces). Some articles, such as Lisa Martinovic on using props or Daniel S. Solis on slam aesthetics and strategy, are elemental but extremely useful, while Patricia Smith's brilliant piece on persona poetry adds little to the concept of the slam. Adding to the confusion is the growth of the audience for slams and the broadening of their scope to include many poets published by the academy. Are these the same poets whose poems work perfectly well on the page and would not readily be labeled "performance" poetry? Contributors' notes would have been useful. "Good slamming starts with good writing," Solis states, although at times the material here seems closer to stand-up comedy. It's not perfect, but, considering how sparse slam literature is, this book should prove an asset to all poetry collections.DRochelle Ratner, formerly with "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Manic D Press, Inc.
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0916397661
• ISBN 13: 9780916397661
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 237
• Editor: Glazner Gary