Spoken Word

A Cultural History

By: Joshua Bennett

Narrated by: Joshua Bennett

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A “rich hybrid of memoir and history” (The New Yorker) of the literary art form that has transformed the cultural landscape, by one of its influential practitioners, an award-winning poet, professor, and slam champion

“Bennett…transport[s] us back to the city blocks, bars, cafes and stages these artists traversed and inhabited…an instructive text for young poets, artists or creative entrepreneurs trying to find a way to carve out a space for themselves…Shines with a refreshing dynamism.” —The New York Times

In 2009, when he was twenty years old, Joshua Bennett was invited to perform a spoken word poem for Barack and Michelle Obama, at the same White House "Poetry Jam" where Lin-Manuel Miranda declaimed the opening bars of a work-in-progress that would soon revolutionize American theater. That meeting is but one among many in the trajectory of Bennett's young life, as he rode the cresting wave of spoken word through the 2010s. In this book, he goes back to its roots, considering the Black Arts movement and the prominence of poetry and song in Black education; the origins of the famed Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the Lower East Side living room of the visionary Miguel Algarín, who hosted verse gatherings with legendary figures like Ntozake Shange and Miguel Piñero; the rapid growth of the "slam" format that was pioneered at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago; the perfect storm of spoken word's rise during the explosion of social media; and Bennett's own journey alongside his older sister, whose work to promote the form helped shape spaces online and elsewhere dedicated to literature and the pursuit of human freedom.

A celebration of voices outside the dominant cultural narrative, who boldly embraced an array of styles and forms and redefined what—and whom—the mainstream would include, Bennett's book illuminates the profound influence spoken word has had everywhere melodious words are heard, from Broadway to academia, from the podiums of political protest to cafés, schools, and rooms full of strangers all across the world.

©2023 Joshua Bennett (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“It is in the telling that the true magic of spoken word, and Bennett’s intricate exploration of its origin stories, comes alive . . . A tender and heartwarming narrative of the evolution of an art form from a passionate, charismatic participant who was on the ground, in the audience and on the stage himself . . . Bennett renders this lush history in lively, captivating prose, smoothly transporting us back to the city blocks, bars, cafes and stages these artists traversed and inhabited . . . Beneath the broad umbrella of a ‘cultural history,’ the book also serves as something even more remarkable—as a kind of manual, an instructive text for young poets, artists or creative entrepreneurs trying to find a way to carve out a space for themselves in the larger universe of poetry . . . What makes this book shine with a refreshing dynamism is that this history is also [Bennett’s] own.”—Tas Tobey, New York Times

“[A] rich hybrid of memoir and history [that] surveys the institutions that have shaped spoken-word poetry for the past five decades . . . Bennett, a poet himself, pays tribute to his literary forebears . . . [and] chronicles the mainstreaming, for better or worse, of a radical tradition.”—The New Yorker

“The art of the spoken word, as Joshua Bennett acknowledges in his new cultural history, Spoken Word ‘is the Western world’s oldest form of literary expression.’ . . . [Bennett] mingles his own experiences with his reporting. From the moment he delivered a poem called “Tamara’s Opus” in front of the 44th president and the first lady—it was about his relationship with his older sister and her disability (deafness)—he knew, he writes, why poetry mattered to him: ‘It left me nowhere to hide.’ . . . While competing with his collegiate slam team at the University of Pennsylvania, Bennett absorbed a powerful lesson from a mentor. He learned that performance poetry could be interpreted as an ‘insistence on his own survival.’ That’s a ringing endorsement for this art form, and this book.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Loved this rich, thoughtful cultural history of spoken word

As someone who works for a storytelling nonprofit in Philly, I truly appreciated Joshua Bennett’s scholarly and yet deeply personal approach to the slam poetry scene.
Story Slams and Poetry Slams have connected roots and practices. The challenges both art forms face today are similar. This book left me inspired and hopeful for the future of an evolving genre.