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Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events.^[1]

In entertainment, spoken word performances generally consist of storytelling or poetry, exemplified by people like Hedwig Gorski and Gil Scott Heron, the lengthy monologues by Spalding Gray, and improvising ranters/commentators like Henry Rollins.

History[link]

Spoken word poetry originated from the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance^[2] and blues music.^[3]

Modern day spoken word poetry became popular in the underground African-American community in the 1960s with the Last Poets. The Last Poets was a poetry and political music group that was birthed from the African-American Civil Rights movement.^[4]

Spoken word poetry came more towards the mainstream in popularity a short time later when Gil Scott Heron released his spoken word poem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised on the album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970.^[5]

In the late 1970s Los Angeles poet Wanda Coleman brought modern spoken word poetry into written form with the release of her poetry collection, Mad Dog, Black Lady in 1979 on Black Sparrow Press.^[6]

Spoken Word was adopted by college circles in the early 1980s to describe a new wave of performing arts that was birthed during Postmodern Art Movement.^[7]

Many artists and poets have not published any of their works in book forms. Some use video and audio recording, the means used exclusively by Hedwig Gorski, who rejected what she called the "dull-drums" of book publishing in the 1980s.^[8] Spalding Gray's film Swimming to Cambodia is a well-known example of spoken word, with Gray siting at a desk, talking about his experiences during the filming of The Killing Fields. Nevertheless, spoken word today is part of the oral culture movement spreading literary expression that includes all minorities and women, unlike the domination by the white male community as was case with the Beats in the 1960s.^[9]

The Nuyorican Poets Café on New York’s Lower Eastside was founded in 1973 and is one of the oldest American venues for presenting spoken word poetry. The Nuyorican Poets Café in 1989 held the first documented poetry slam. ^[10]

On the West Coast Da Poetry Lounge and The World Stage are two of the oldest venues for spoken word poetry. The World Stage presenting the more literary side of the spoken word tradition and Da Poetry Lounge embracing the more performance side of spoken word tradition.^[11]

The Nuyorican Poets Café and Da Poetry Lounge have a close association with the poetry slam movement which was popularized by Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Lounge with both main hosts Bob Holman^[12] and Shihan^[13] apprearing several times on the show.

Motivation[link]

Since its inception, the spoken word has been an outlet for people to release their views outside the academic and institutional domains of the university and academic or small press. The spoken word and its most popular offshoot, slam poetry, evolved into the present day soap-box for people, especially younger ones, to express their views, emotions, life experiences or information to audiences. The views of spoken word artists encompass frank commentary on religion, politics, sex and gender, often taboo subjects in the world of contemporary academic poetry. When talking about emotion, it depends. A spoken word piece can be powerful with the right emotion behind it but, at the same time, a lack of emotion can set a poem apart. It all depends on the topic. Life experiences are best, especially when the person has actually lived through the experience. Lastly, spoken word is used to inform or make an audience conscious of some human aspect pertaining to life.^[14]

See also[link]

• Spoken word soul
• List of performance poets

References[link]

Sarah Kay is a professor of French at New York University.

Kay was a student in the UK at the University of Oxford. She started her teaching career at the University of Liverpool then moved to the University of Cambridge. She was head of department at Cambridge from 1996 until 2001 and Director of Studies at Girton College, Cambridge from 2003 to 2005. Kay has been a fellow of the British Academy since 2004 and was awarded a D.Litt (Cambridge) in 2005.^[1]

Publications[link]

• Žižek: A Critical Introduction (Cambridge: Polity, 2003)
• (with Malcolm Bowie and Terence Cave) A Short History of French Literature (Oxford University Press, 2003)
• Courtly Contradictions (Stanford University Press, 2001)
• (with Simon Gaunt) The Troubadours. An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 1999)
• The Chansons de geste in the Age of Romance (Oxford University Press, 1995)
• (as co-editor with Miri Rubin) Framing Medieval Bodies (Manchester University Press, 1994)
• (as editor) Raoul de Cambrai (Oxford University Press, 1992)
• Subjectivity in Troubadour Poetry (Cambridge University Press, 1990)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kay's profile at Princeton University
• Review of Kay's Courtly Contradictions published in The Medieval Review, 2004.

This biography article of a United Kingdom academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Shane L. Koyczan (born 22 May 1976) is a Canadian poet and writer. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. In 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the US National Poetry Slam.^[1] Together with Mighty Mike McGee and C. R. Avery, he is the co-founder of spoken word, "talk rock" trio, Tons of Fun University (T.O.F.U.). In August 2007 Shane Koyczan and his work were the subject of an episode of the television documentary series Heart of a Poet, produced by Canadian filmmaker Maureen Judge for broadcaster Bravo!.^[2]

Koyczan has published two books, poetry collection Visiting Hours, and Stickboy, a novel in verse. Visiting Hours was selected by both the Guardian and Globe and Mail for their 2005 Best Books of the Year lists.

Koyczan’s "We Are More" and Ivan Bielinski’s "La première fois", commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission, were unveiled at Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on 1 July 2007.^[3] Koyczan performed a variation on his piece at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[4]

Koyczan also collaborated on Vancouver-based musician Dan Mangan's Roboteering EP on the track Tragic Turn of Events - Move Pen Move.

Bibliography[link]

• I'm Calling you friend
• Help Wanted
• I Drew That For You
• Visiting Hours (2005, House of Parlance Media; ISBN 978-0-9738131-0-4)
• Stickboy ( 2008, House of Parlance Media ISBN 978-0-9738131-6-6)^[5]

Discography[link]

• Perfect
• 2nd Time Around
• Visiting Hours
• American Pie Chart
• Shut Up And Say Something

With Tons of Fun University (ToFU):

• The Them They're Talking About (2005)
• Hard to Tell (2009)

As Shane Koyczan and The Short Story Long:

• A Pretty Decent Cape in My Closet (2007)
  • includes "The Crickets Have Arthritis"

As Shane Koyczan and The Short Story Long:

• "Remembrance Year" (2012)

Filmography[link]

• The 2000 National Poetry Slam Finals (2000, The Wordsmith Press)

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long at MySpace
• Text of "We Are More", as recited at the 2010 Olympics opening