Poets & Writers Theater

“What does it mean to write something urgent right now?” Don’t Be Nice is a 2018 documentary directed by Max Powers that follows a group of poets from the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City’s East Village who grapple with the political climate punctuated by the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements as they prepare for the National Poetry Slam championship during the summer of 2016.

“When I did not feel anything, I begged you for mercy, for myself, a form of forgiveness that always comes in muscle memory.” In this Write About Now Poetry video, Christopher Diaz performs his poem “again” at AvantGarden in Houston.

“I want to write about tiny miracles: I woke up this morning. I woke up this morning.” George Abraham, author of the chapbook The Specimen’s Apology (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2019), reads his poem “Against Consolidation” at the 2017 VOX POP Poetry Slam Tournament in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“My family is a group of redwoods / that sought god instead of ground...” Samoan American poet William Nu’utupu Giles reads his poem “Prescribed Fire” at the 2015 National Poetry Slam. Giles won the National Underground Poetry Individual Competition in 2015, the first Pacific Islander to win the award.

"Sometimes in my dreams I sign and everyone understands me." In this 2011 documentary directed by Judy Lieff, a deaf teen is introduced to American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry and enters into the spoken word slam scene. Deaf Jam has inspired a website which includes resources for ASL poets and workshops with the artists featured in the film.

Mahogany L. Browne reads her poem “Black Girl Magic” for PBS NewHour’s “Brief but Spectacular” series. Browne is a poet and author coordinating the Women of the World Poetry Slam at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Directed by Monica Gutierrez and produced by Galen Brown, 3004 Studios, and the Toronto Public Library, this documentary follows slam poets and mentors from the Poetry Saved Our Lives writing and performance workshops in Toronto, Canada.

Marc Kelly Smith, the founder of the poetry slam movement, performs as part of the Chicago Icons segment of Poets & Writers Live in Chicago on June 20, 2015.

"I have not seen my own face in ten years, but this is not about me." In this video clip from 2002, veteran slam poet Katie Makkai performs "Pretty," which confronts the harsh reality of how our culture perceives women and appearances.

“I’ve never met anyone whose name starts with the letter Q so I know I’ll never have to mourn it.” Poet Jared Singer performs "How I learned my ABC's" at the 2012 NYC Urbana Poetry Slam.

In this TED-Ed animated video, poet Gayle Danley artfully explains the five essential elements to becoming an effective slam poet.

“Since when does being a teacher mean having to swear not to help??” Dylan Garity performs “Rigged Game,” his poem about a flawed educational system, at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, MN.   

“I was told to speak up.” Poet Catalina Ferro describes a harrowing seating arrangement aboard an airplane in her poem, “Emergency Exit Row,” at the NYC Urbana Poetry Slam.

Poet Benjamin Barker performs his poem, “Rubik’s Cube,” at the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“She was the first beautiful thing I ever got stuck on.” Poet Neil Hilborn performs his poem, “OCD,” at the 2013 Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam.

Poet Shane Koyczan delivers a performance of "To This Day," his spoken-word poem about bullying that went viral as a video project with eighty different animators earlier this year.

Kioni "Popcorn" Marshall, who has been writing poetry since the age of five and performing at New York City venues since she was nine, reads her poem "Love."

Eighteen-year-old Stephanie Yun was recently named Oakland’s first youth poet laureate after winning a competition at the Flor y Canto Festival in San Francisco. The competition was organized by the Oakland Public Library in partnership with Youth Speaks, a nonprofit organization focused on spoken word performance and education.

Three-time felon and Tony Award-winning poet and playwright Lemon Anderson starred in Russell Simmons's Def Poetry Jam in 2003, but the resulting money and fame quickly disappeared. Lemon, a new documentary about Anderson by Laura Brownson and Beth Levinson, will have its broadcast premiere on PBS as part of Latino Broadcasting's series Voces on October 19.

Performed by Steve Connell and Sekou Andrews, The Word Begins follows two men who discover "the power of words to define love, faith, race, and humanity in America." Directed by Robert Egan, the combination of theater, spoken word, and comedy show is playing at Brooklyn's Hip Hop Theater Festival.