Poetry is the art of expression that puts words together to create an aesthetic and meaningful whole. There are plenty of wonderful poems and poetry books that exist in different books stores worldwide, examples of the latter is The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace and Poetry in Motion Quattlebaum book or the first poetry novel of Raymond Quattlebaum. This craft can either be written or performed. The latter is called spoken word, which refers to the literary presentation based upon the crafted words. Additionally, it is a verbal art that centers on the beauty of word play, like the enunciation, diction, pronunciation, voice inflection, and more. It is not just about merely reading a well-constructed poem out loud but is also about giving life to the words written on the paper.
Spoken word caters all types of poems, metered, rhyming, free-verse, and more. It also embraces poetry readings, slam poetry, jazz poetry, and others. What sets spoken word apart from written poetry is the way it delivers the poem and the beauty of the sound that it utilizes. This kind of literary performance has been crafted by many outstanding poets that have been bringing a lot of pride and honor to this art of giving life to words. Listed below are the remarkable and extraordinary spoken word poets that you should get to know:
Sarah Kay
Nobody knew that the baby girl born on June 19, 1988 in New York City, New York will grow up to be a prominent and outstanding poet. She is the offspring of a Japanese American and Jewish American parents. Sarah Kay graduated from Brown University, where she earned her Masters of Arts in teaching. She also went to Grinnell College to acquire her honorary doctorate in humane letter, which she successfully achieved. She began her spoken word journey when she was 14 years old. Her first performance was a poetry slam in the East Village at the Bowery Poetry Club. Sarah’s spoken word journey streamed successfully. In such a young age, she already competed in the National Poetry Slam. In the year 20014, she founded and co-directed a program called Project Voice. Moreover, Sarah also performed in HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, Tribeca Film Festival, *spark!, TED conference, and more. She wrote multiple poems and has published plenty of poetry books, which she presented in different events.
Phil Kaye
Phil Kaye is the son of a Jewish-American father and a Japanese mother. He was born in America, specifically California, but has stayed true to his Japanese and Jewish roots. Before he exceeded the age of 5, he spoke nearly full Japanese. However, it was altered when he started attending kindergarten. He started to learn and master the art of spoken word when he was 17. He went to Brown University for college and took interest in the poetry club. Phil was chosen to compete for the National Poetry Slams and successfully made it to the finals. Moreover, college is one of the gate-opener for Kaye’s spoken word career for that is where she met Sarah Kay and they decided to collaborate and do performances together. He is also a co-director of Sarah Kay’s Project VOICE. Phil also has written many poems and published notable poetry books, such as Date & Time, Repetition, and more. Aside from being a poet, he is also a filmmaker and a former educator of poetry workshops in maximum security jails every week.
Olivia Gatwood
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Olivia Gatwood is a 28-year-old American writer, poet, and advocate. She was born on February 23, 1992 from parents Jill and Byron Gatwood. She began falling in love with the art of poetry when she was 11 years old and was at the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was first an influence of a librarian but Gatwood developed a strong interest in this type of literature. She utilized poetry in order to let out her emotions and express her views about coming of age. In 2015, Olivia finished the fiction program from the Pratt Institute. Moreover, she is a strong advocate and teacher of significant topics, such as adolescence, adulthood, feminism, gender-based violence, and more. She always brings out the best in women through her ability to write and perform. She has already become a finalist in three of the most notable poetry competitions, such as the Women of the World, National Poetry Slam, and Brave New Voices. Gatwood also had the chance to perform in plenty of television platform, like HBO, MTV, BBC, and more. Her works has been also showcase in different review pages and journalism platforms.
Suli Breaks
Suli Breaks or Darryll Suliaman Amoako was born on January 22, 1988 in Wood Green, London, England. He is the middle of the three offspring of Ghanaian parents. He described his family as a traditional African family where the primary focus is education. Suli Breaks briefly attended Enfield Grammar School because he received a basketball scholarship from Middlesbrough. He acquired his law degree from the University of Sheffield. His spoken word journey started in 2008 when he first got on stage to perform. He was recognized for his amazing spoken word performance in these videos: Why I Hate School but Love Education (2012) and I Will Not Let an Exam Result Decide My Fate (2013). Suli was featured in different programs in TV, such as The Voice, Aspire Talent, Corner Shop Show, and more. He also presented a talk on Tedx. He also owned a Youtube channel where he garnered more than 8 million views and 320 thousand subscribers.
The Damsel’s Files 