Spoken-word artists who helped define the genre, part 2
Alli Marshall Alli Marshall

Spoken-word artists who helped define the genre, part 2

“Spoken word or spoken word poetry is a poetic form that is meant for performance and incorporates the wordplay, alliteration, and intonation of ancient oral traditions,” explains PoemAnalysis. The website goes on to designate spoken word as “one of the most important modern art forms.”

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Join us for an evening of Poetry & Music
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Join us for an evening of Poetry & Music

Special guests include John Medeski & Friends, Oteil Burbridge, Vernon Reid, Brian Jackson, DJ Logic, Jeff Sipe, and Maggie Rose. The event takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Salvage Station (indoor stage), and benefits No Simple Disruption Podcast.

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TED Talks on Spoken Word Poetry
Alli Marshall Alli Marshall

TED Talks on Spoken Word Poetry

It’s no surprise that Ted Talks — a series of videos created to present interesting ideas in 18 minutes or less — is a great place to learn about spoken word. After all, this platform covered every topics from “Do schools kill creativity?” to “The Power of Vulnerability.” The complete list of viewable Ted Talks is 162 pages long and dates to June of 2006 — though Ted began in 1985 as a conference on Technology, Entertainment, and Design (hence the name).

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Spoken-word artists who helped define the genre, part 1
Alli Marshall Alli Marshall

Spoken-word artists who helped define the genre, part 1

Spoken word is pretty much in our human DNA. Storytelling is among our oldest art forms and can be found in every culture around the globe. Spoken-word poetry tends to fuse the performance of poetic pieces with rhythm and rhyme, giving them a musicality as well as an immediacy.

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The National Youth Poet Laureate Program
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The National Youth Poet Laureate Program

The 2022 Youth Poet Laureate is Alyssa Gaines Pictured), the Midwest Regional Finalist and the first-ever Indianapolis Youth Poet Laureate. Her work was published by Teach for America and has appeared in Scholastic’s “Best Teen Writing,” the Indianapolis Recorder.

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Grammy Nominations for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album
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Grammy Nominations for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

The Grammy category Best Spoken Word Album dates back to 1959. It includes audio books, comedy albums, and more. “Still, the wider Spoken Word GRAMMY Field — which houses the Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording category, formerly known as the Best Spoken Word Album — continues to evolve,” explains the Grammy Awards website. And, for 2023, an important addition has been made to the category: Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.

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An introduction to Slam Poetry
Alli Marshall Alli Marshall

An introduction to Slam Poetry

Slam poetry rose in prominence throughout the 1990s fueled in large part by its popularity among young and diverse poets. From its inception in Chicago, the competition style spread across the country, finding a home at the Nuyorican Poets Café (pictured) in New York City.

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Meet poet Michaela Kabat
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Meet poet Michaela Kabat

Spoken-word artist Michaela Kabat is the first poet to be featured on the No Simple Disruption podcast. She grew up in Asheville, N.C. where she started writing at age 8. “I was allowed to do it in class,” she explains. “Poetry, for a long time, has been a way for me to put into words things that are very abstract.”

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How to record your poem using BPM
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How to record your poem using BPM

When recording, it is helpful for your poem to follow a timing guide. This guide track can be listened to in headphones in order for you to hear the speed. The goal here is to record your voice, not the guide track. That way, your voice will best be accessed for a collaborative creative project.

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