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Category: History of Spoken Word

History of Spoken Word

Slam Poetry (1980s–Present, USA)

October 23, 2025 / October 23, 2025 by Mister

We arrive in the 1980s — a bar in Chicago, Green Mill Lounge. A white construction worker and poet named Marc Smith wants to make poetry more engaging. He starts the poetry slam — a competitive, scored performance format. Slam becomes a stage where performance matters as much as — sometimes more than — the […]

History of Spoken Word

Spoken Word in the UK (1970s–Present)

October 23, 2025 / October 23, 2025 by Mister

While spoken word poetry is growing in the US, its seeds are also taking root in the UK — especially in urban centers shaped by migration, inequality, and music culture. Early Influences (1970s–80s) “In the 1970s and 80s, Black British poets begin fusing Jamaican dub, reggae, and patois with political critique. This is the sound […]

History of Spoken Word

Civil Rights & Black Arts Movement (1960s–70s, USA)

October 23, 2025 / October 23, 2025 by Mister

Focus: protest, justice, empowerment, political urgency Now the voice becomes fire. This is the Civil Rights era, and alongside it, the Black Arts Movement. Poetry is now protest, weapon, ritual. Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Gil Scott-Heron — these artists are not just writing, they’re mobilizing.” “This is full-circle with the griots — poets […]

History of Spoken Word

Beat Poetry (1950s–60s, USA)

October 23, 2025 / October 23, 2025 by Mister

Now we move to the post-war era: 1950s, early 60s. A new countercultural movement emerges — the Beats. Writers like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Diane di Prima — mostly white, mostly male — reject conformity and consumerism. They write how they speak. They embrace rhythm, stream-of-consciousness, and taboo topics. Here’s the shift: this is when […]

History of Spoken Word

Harlem Renaissance (1920s–30s, USA)

October 23, 2025 / October 23, 2025 by Mister

We begin in Harlem, 1920s. Black writers, musicians, and thinkers are carving out a cultural renaissance. Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay — they turn jazz into rhythm, speech into poetry. Spoken word is being shaped in clubs, salons, and street corners. What matters here? Pride. Pride in being Black. Pride in the vernacular. […]