Open Mic, Spoken Word -- We’ve got the definitions of the New Poetry

If you’re looking for the definitions of the New Poetry, ask your Poetry Guide Bob Holman first: see his manifesto “Open Mic: Definitions, Rules, Etiquette, Irony.” The poetry open mic is “a meta-metaphor for freedom, a place where your art can be presented to the public at large,” a place where “all humans are created equal –- so long as you don’t go over the time limit!”

Then if you want further definitions from the younger generation, Eman’s the one to ask: she was just 16 and already hosting two weekly open mics when we interviewed her in the millennium year, “HipHop, Performance Poetry, Spoken Word, Slam: Definitions from a Teenager.”

Open Mic: Poetry HowTos
How To Get started hosting a poetry reading
How To Promote your poetry reading
The Barbaric Yawp: How To Give a good reading of your poems, by Gary Mex Glazner

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Open Takes Over: David Shapiro on open mikes and fame
The Fuse: A circle of performance, poetry & safety in a public square, by David Levine