SPOKEN WORD

'Spoken word' is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. Spoken-word is often done with a musical background, but emphasis is kept on the speaker.
One of the most common sorts of spoken word performances is performance poetry, where a poet either reads previously-published poems, or reads poems specifically written to be performed aloud. Another kind that has gained popularity in recent years is political and social commentary, done in such a way that it is, while still prose, somewhat more artistic than a typical speech. Spoken word artists are often poets and musicians. Spoken word gained notoriety in the late 1980s and early 1990s through the emergence of "poetry slams," where spoken word artists would square off in cabaret-style duels.

Contents

Notable performers

Performance poetry

Comedians and other artists

Actors and actresses

See also

External links

Notable performers

Performance poetry

★ GG Allin

★ Brother Dash

★ Laurie Anderson

★ John M. Bennett

★ Jello Biafra

★ Roger Bonair-Agard

★ Derrick C. Brown

★ John Cooper Clarke

★ Ernest Cline

★ Billy Childish

★ Ani DiFranco

★ Big Poppa E

★ HKB FiNN

★ GiGi

★ Allen Ginsberg

★ Jesse Glass

★ Hedwig Gorski

★ Tania Guerrera

★ John S. Hall

★ Daniel Higgs

★ Gil Scott-Heron

★ Lauryn Hill

★ Bob Holman

★ Jerome "J-Square" Jones

★ Joolz

★ Anthony Joseph

★ Miranda July

★ Mark Anthony Parker Adkins

★ Alan Kaufman

★ Jack Kerouac

★ Christine Klusko

★ Richard Kostelanetz

★ Talib Kweli

★ Newoka LaShelle

★ The Last Poets

★ David Lerner

★ Timothy "Speed" Levitch

★ Eve Libertine

★ Lydia Lunch

★ Taylor Mali

★ Randy Marsh

★ Sam Marshall

★ Mighty Mike McGee

★ Gerard McKeown

★ Rove McManus

★ Susan McMaster

★ Anis Mojgani

★ Jim Morrison

★ Colin Morton

★ John Most

★ Ken Nordine

★ Evalyn Parry

★ Malachi Rivers

★ Henry Rollins

★ Ursula Rucker

★ Michael Salinger

★ Jill Scott

★ Steve Scott

★ Beau Sia

★ Shihan van Clief

★ Mark E. Smith

★ Patti Smith

★ Nicky Spesh

★ Rod Summers

★ Serj Tankian

★ Tony Tremblay

★ Buddy Wakefield

★ Tom Waits

★ Saul Williams

★ Sheri-D Wilson

★ Emanuel Xavier

★ Tom Winter

★ Jason Wright

★ Mali Woods

★ Amir Sulaiman

Comedians and other artists

★ Victor Borge

★ Lenny Bruce

★ Henry Rollins

★ Chris Rock

★ Robin Williams

★ Alan Moore

Actors and actresses

★ Judith Anderson

★ Ed Begley

★ Claire Bloom

★ Richard Burton

★ Jose Ferrer

★ Albert Finney

★ John Gielgud

★ Cedric Hardwicke

★ Dennis Hopper

★ James Mason

★ Siobhán McKenna

★ Laurence Olivier

★ Tyrone Power

★ Vincent Price

★ Anthony Quayle

★ Michael Redgrave

★ Ralph Richardson

★ Maggie Smith

★ William Shatner

★ Miranda July

See also

★ Voice acting

★ Speech

External links

★ Is There A Future For Spoken Word? @ dropmagazine.com

★ Video of a spoken word piece

★ unique spoken word & improvised music