Spoken Word Poetry

When I think of spoken word, I think of William S. Burroughs, who inspired me to record my own.

I like Andrea Gibson, but I'm not really fan of spoken word-- at least not of many contemporary so-called 'slam poets'. I enjoy printed poetry more. I have many qualms with the sort of people who are self-important enough to derive meaning out of their own poems enough to perform them at spoken word events. It makes me think they like hearing their own voice. I like the idea of laboring over your poetry and letting people read them, and more importantly, letting people seek them out.

This seems to be a thorny issue amongst poets...

It's worth noting that "spoken word" and "slam poetry" are two distinct things. Spoken word is poetry read aloud (and often written for that purpose); slam poetry is competitive spoken word. In a slam, poems are read, judges give scores, and eventually a winner is crowned. People compete on local, regional, and national levels.

The very notion of "competitive poetry" is pretty polarizing; some people live for it, and others find it quite distasteful.

I'm also doing a creative writing course this year and one of the perks has been the chance to hear many wonderful performance poets.
My favorites so far have been Tusiata Avia and Joy Harjo.
Ms. Avia in particular performed a poem I might not think all that interesting on the page, but from her mouth and done with the right body language it was incredible.
Performance is just another technique for getting across what you want to.
In some cases you couldn't really do without it.
In others, it adds something, but it's not essential.
In still others, it detracts from the work.
As to the differences in the actual writing. I don't think there are always differences.
But in general, poetry that is written for performing tends to be more repetitive, and perhaps with more emphasis on the sound of it (although most poetry has this anyway).
Not too long, not too complicated, so people can follow you all the way through. A lot of the meaning may be added or enhanced through tone of voice and body language.
And slam poets in particular tend to use hot topics, I think because it's easier to engage with people emotionally, and to assume they all know what you're talking about, and you don't have to spell it out.

Spoken word (Performance) Poetry generally lacks the control and discipline of written Poetry and is seldom of the highest quality.

Declamned poetry, on the other hand (although seldom taken advantage of in this day and age) allows (particularly when done by the original author) the benefits of spoken interpretation with the communication inherent in the written version and is thus far superior, and is the only form of such should be deemed acceptable.

Jim Hoye (JRH)

I think poets of the printed form are pulled from the literary dept while spoke word pulls from the theatre department. Someone called a dramatic monologue poetry and that gave birth to Spoken Word.

Spoken Word poetry:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/random/articles/competition-winner-apple-by-dylan-owen

the same poem as it would appear in print:

Apple
by Dylan Owen

I eat an apple. One a day keeps the doctor away. I throw the core, continue to walk, ignoring the squawk from a hungry seagull. I chew. I swallow. I fail. A chewed chunk, a bolus of fruit, sticks in my throat. Is this my Adam's apple? I choke. Gasp, grasp for air; all alone, no one there. Vision narrows, tunnel view, dark edges framing my life's end. I see, my family, mourning me; killed by an apple on the way to work.

I stand and lean, rest hands on knees, my final act? Attempt to retract a chewed piece of fruit from my throat. Time running out, senses reducing, producing sensation of space; the universe awaits.

Unknown to me, I am not alone. In space or in predicament.

Above, the seagull struggles. Locked in its throat, the core of the apple I threw. This apple resists the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. The seagull loses its flight. It falls, like the apple from the tree, pulled by gravity, that Newton polished on his knee. It falls, and lands... on me.

On my knees, dying, the seagull smacks down on my back. Gravities force
transferred, to apple, from bird. Apple expelled, death repelled. I inhaled.

Today, I was saved by a bird, killed by an apple.

Click to expand...

You can find more of Dylan Owen on YouTube -- he's an excellent spoken word poet, but his poems on paper leave a lot to be desired. The spoken nature of spoken word poetry is something that can't be contained, captured or expressed on paper (although in the past this was done regularly through attention to meter, odd huh?) -- I suppose it's more to do with natural voice resonance and theatrical relation to concept than actual poetry -- poetry of another sort you may say, ingratiating the vocal and lyrical side of expression and creativity rather than the metaphorical. It would be nice if more poets actually combined the 2...

This is the third of these threads I've seen now and in each one I have the same thing to say. Poetry is written to be spoken aloud by default. It is poems written just for print (ones where the shape or indentation is somehow integral) that are the sub group. Rhythm, rhyme and meter are all experienced aurally. Poetry to my mind is basically defined as a linguistic attempt at music.

So when you ask what is the difference between poetry written to be spoken and 99% of the stuff we call "printed poetry" I say none.

SinK said:

This is the third of these threads I've seen now and in each one I have the same thing to say. Poetry is written to be spoken aloud by default. It is poems written just for print (ones where the shape or indentation is somehow integral) that are the sub group. Rhythm, rhyme and meter are all experienced aurally. Poetry to my mind is basically defined as a linguistic attempt at music.

So when you ask what is the difference between poetry written to be spoken and 99% of the stuff we call "printed poetry" I say none.

Click to expand...

And that's true -- but the term 'spoken word' refers to a specific stylisation within that, not quite performance poetry, not quite written for the speaking, but generally spoken no matter. Most 'spoken word' poetry has a general written outline and the rest is improvised or added in during the speaking of it. There's the difference.