The Brave New Voices of Youth

A highlight of National Poetry Month for the last 9 years has been the annual Teen Poetry Slam, and this week they’re bringing their brave new voices to New York City, from all over. It has evolved into an international event; this year there’s a team from London. You may have noticed something in your local newspaper about teenage poets heading to New York -- here is just a sampling of news articles from around the US:

• from The San Francisco Chronicle:
  “Local poets lift voices at nationals,” by Chip Johnson
  
• from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
  “A Poetic Smackdown,” by Michael Beder
  
• from The Miami Herald:
  “Poetry in motion: Local teens headed to N.Y.,” by Brett O’Bourke
  
• from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Pioneer Press:
  “Teen poets stand and deliver,” by Matt Peiken
  
• from The Denver Post:
  “Teens bring ’tude to the mic,” by Sheba R. Wheeler

The real story of the origins of the Teen Poetry Slam is closer to home, in the article James Kass, founder of Youth Speaks, wrote for us about bringing poetry into the schools. His conviction that “the next generation can speak for itself!” is compelling, a reminder of how poetry can bring people into a new relationship with their language & their world: “The Teenage (R)evolution of Poetry, The Poetic (R)evolution Of Teenagers.” And if you find yourself inspired to get involved with kids & poetry, our newly updated links page accompanying the article will put you in touch with teen poetry organizations & school resources.

Related articles:
HipHop, Performance Poetry, Spoken Word, Slam: Definitions from a Teenager
The Poetry Kids from Pittsburgh
The Teen Corner in the About Poetry Forum