Description

The powerful story of an art form that has transformed the cultural landscape, by an award-winning poet, professor, and slam champion.

‘AN ENGAGING HISTORY’ New York Times | ‘A RICH HYBRID OF MEMOIR AND HISTORY’ The New Yorker | ‘A MUST-READ’ Roger Robinson | ‘GALVANISING’ Luke Kennard | ‘CAPTURES LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE’ Theri A. Pickens | ‘MAGNIFICENT’ Cornel West

In 2009, at only twenty years old, Joshua Bennett was invited to recite a poem for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House’s Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word. Spike Lee and Saul Williams were in the audience, and it turned out to be the very same event where Lin-Manuel Miranda first performed a work-in-progress that revolutionised musical theatre – Hamilton.

Blending memoir and literary analysis, Bennett shows how a handful of visionaries altered modern culture. With passion, wit and erudition, he charts the history of spoken-word poetry, as well as his coming-of-age journey as a writer.

From the early influence of Miguel Algarin and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe to Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem for President Joe Biden, he celebrates the contributions of legendary figures such as Ntozake Shange, Nikki Giovanni and Miguel Pinero, as well as how artists like MF DOOM, Jill Scott and Mos Def were inspired to develop their craft within their shared tradition.

Spoken Word illuminates the profound influence that poetry has had everywhere melodious words are heard, from the West End to academia, from the podiums of political protest to cafes, from schools to rooms full of strangers all across the world.

Publisher Review

Joshua Bennett wasn't on the sidelines observing the spoken word revolution he was in it, and he knew it was too good to be ghettoised, too uncut and raw to be ignored and too fly not to survive. It is rare to find such a nuanced and erudite record from an insider of a culture. A must-read for all interested in poetry, culture and its evolution. * Roger Robinson, author of 'Home is Not a Place' * A galvanising, thoroughgoing history of rare literary quality. Dr Joshua Bennett is courageously personal and honest in his account, but it's a passion which speaks to all of us, and to anyone still finding their voice or the nerve to take that risk, from the back room of the local arts centre to the biggest stages in the world. All written with the detail, lyricism, imagination and intellect of a seasoned poet. I feel more hopeful and excited for having read it. * Luke Kennard, author of 'Notes on the Sonnets' * This marvellous and magnificent book on the recent past and present of Spoken Word touches hearts and minds in a soulful way! Bennett's beautiful prose and powerful stories glow from his early Black Church origins, through his Ivy-league education, grassroots poetic formation to his precious son August Galileo listening to Coltrane! Don't miss this superb laying bare of Black joy and genius! * Dr Cornel West, author of 'Race Matters' and 'Democracy Matters' * Joshua Bennett's memoir and cultural history is a stirring reminder that no other art form is grounded in, and centres, community like spoken word does. I loved reading about how, through care, dedication, and will, spaces were forged that allowed voices from any and everywhere to come, be heard, and develop into some of the most radical and vital truth tellers of our times. * Rishi Dastidar, author of 'Saffron Jack' * Bennett captures lightning in a bottle: not just a few of spoken word's historical touchstones, but glimpses of all that the form has wrought in its various illustrious afterlives ... He clarifies for us that spoken word is no passing fad, swept away by the passage of time. It is, instead, howling wind that deserves our respect for how it transforms everything, leaving the world more exposed, more open, and more beautiful in its wake. * Theri A. Pickens, author of 'Black Madness :: Mad Blackness' *