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Article: Australian Poetry Slam '08.
- Article from:
- National Library of Australia Gateways
- Article date:
- October 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 National Library of Australia. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The audience is not worked up over a football game or wrestling match; they're here for a verbose brawl, a battle of wits, metaphorical bloodsport, an endurance contest fought, won, and lost with the travel of words from mind to mouth to mic to the mob. Believe it or not, they're here for poetry.
--Benjamin Ortiz after witnessing the US National Poetry Slam
In 1984, a construction worker and poet named Marc Smith started a poetry reading series at a Chicago jazz club, looking for a way to heighten public interest in poetry readings. The series' emphasis on performance laid the groundwork for a style of poetry and performance which would eventually spread ...