SPOKEN WORD

How performance poetry evolved.

Bennett, a Dartmouth English professor and poet who counts Guggenheim and National Endowment of the Arts fellowships among his many honors, traces the widespread cultural influence of spoken word poetry, from its 20th-century beginnings in New York to its 21st-century proliferation in digital media. Melding archival sources, autobiographical reflections, and “interviews with living legends in the field of poetry and performance,” the author traces the 50-year history of a vibrant literary form whose most prominent figures have been Black and brown poets, including Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, and Nikki Giovanni. A highlight of Bennett’s career came in 2009, when he was invited to recite a poem at the Obama White House. Asked to respond to the theme of communication, the nervous University of Pennsylvania undergraduate chose an ode about his relationship with his older sister, who is deaf, “and by extension my relationship to ASL, which I had struggled to learn as a child.” It was his first professional performance but not the first time he performed before an audience. That came in 1999, when he was 11 and his mother insisted that he enter a poetry slam—a competition among poets—at his local library; he won second place. Bennett underscores the importance of clubs, cafes, poetry slams, and open mics in providing opportunities for spoken word poets to share their work and discover a sense of community. He profiles many individuals who have devoted themselves to fostering that community, such as Miguel Algarin, co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe; and Marc Smith, who began a performance competition at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago in 1984 that evolved, by 1990, into the National Poetry Slam. Bennett sees TV (the series Def Poetry ran for six seasons), video, and the internet as positive forces, allowing new audiences to experience the energy and intensity of performance poetry.

A well-researched, invigorating celebration of a spirited art form.