poetry slam

6 Stories

Boy Apologizes for White Privilege in Epic Poem

'I have started life on the top of the ladder'

(Newser) - A 14-year-old stood up in front of his eighth-grade class in May and delivered what is now "being celebrated as the definition of responsible self-analysis by a white American," per Fusion . In a viral video posted two weeks ago, Royce Mann of Atlanta begins his poem "White...

Tom Hanks Performs Slam Poem About ... Full House

On 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon'

(Newser) - Just when you thought F-bomb-dropping Tom Hanks could not possibly get any cooler, he goes on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and performs a slam poem about … a 1990s sitcom. "Full House, house full of men. Danny, Jesse, Joey, father, uncle, friend," intoned a very serious Hanks...

MTV Pretends Poetry Night Was Ron Paul Event

Organizers outraged over weird article

(Newser) - It sounds like the perfect quirky political story: Ron Paul supporters gather in a New Hampshire bar ahead of the primaries for a slam poetry reading. It didn't happen or anything, but you wouldn't know it if you read this MTV piece about a reading that took place...

Slam Poetry Too Mainstream: Founder

Once subversive art form now embraced nationwide

(Newser) - Slam poetry has ballooned from a grassroots movement to a national phenomenon—and its founder isn’t happy about it. “People just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV,” Marc Kelly Smith, who started the genre in Chicago 25...

White House Jams to Spoken Word

Theater, jazz, poetry collide in East Room event

(Newser) - Spoken word, jazz, and theater took the White House by storm last night in what has been called the first presidential poetry jam, the Washington Post reports. “We're here to celebrate the power of words,” President Obama said, adding that his wife is his poet. The jam, Michelle...

At House Tonight / Obamas Plan / First-Ever Poetry Slam

Mayda Del Valle, ELEW among invitees

(Newser) - Check off another campaign promise. President Obama is hosting the White House’s first-ever poetry slam, part of his vow to open up “the people's house” to artists, WNBC-TV reports. The 100 guests include actor James Earl Jones, writer Michael Chabon, jazz musician Esperanza Spalding, and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda....

6 Stories