"Listening to the new poets, will we ever be the
same? This anthology has a stake in freedom, is a proclamation for poetics. Zo� Anglesey
is a literary abolitionist--she breaks through the barriers that separate us from the new
poetry."
~ E. Etlelbert Miller
Listen
up!: Spoken Word Poetry
Author: Zoe Angelsey (Editor), Yusef Komunyakaa
(Introduction)
Publisher: Ballantine Books, Inc.
Date Published: March 1999
Format: Trade Paper
"Today, the poetry scene flourishes at New York
open-mic spots like the Nuyorican Poets Caf�, Brooklyn's YWCA Tea Party and Harlem's
Sugar Shack. Progeny of hip poets--the Beats of the 50s and protest poets of the 60s and
70s--these up-and-coming literati cast their diverse spells of word beats inspiring young
contemporaries in Cleveland, Ohio, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta;
later branching out internationally to poetry circuit venues in Tokyo, Rio de Janiero,
London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Istanbul."
~ Zo� Anglesey
About the Book (from book jacket)
Spoken word poetry is a cross-cultural phenomenon. Here for the first time in one hot
volume are poems from the nation's top spoken word artists. Listen Up! features nine
brilliant award-winning scribes who have ignited audiences worldwide with their soulful
verse, bold alliterations, and sultry fusion of rhythm and rhyme--electrifying audiences
as they chant, sing, recite, and improvise their poetry and powerful point of view.
Among these nine literary luminaries are Carl Hancock Rux, named by The New York Times as
one of thirty young artists "most likely to change the culture in the next thirty
years"; Jessica Care Moore, a record-breaking five-time
winner of the Apollo competition; and Saul Williams,
co-scriptwriter and star of the feature film Slam, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the
Sundance Film Festival and the prestigious Camera D'Or at Cannes.
Packed with penetrating interviews on the craft of writing poetry, insight into the art of
performance, and on-target, off-guard photos of the poets in action at history-making
poetry slams, this unforgettable collection is the next best thing to being there live.
"These poets protect the softer, more mindful core of
nerves--the synapses that compute the flow of electricity between poem and poetry
audience--adding to the whole story we adore as verse."
~ Miguel Algarin, Founder and Director of The Nuyorican Poets Caf�
Zo� Anglesey is an arts journalist, poet, and translator. A former editor of The Village Voice Literary Supplement and head of the Brooklyn Moon Caf�'s "Meet the Author" series, she is now curator of the Literary Arts Reading Series at the Pratt Institute. She is also poetry editor at The MultiCultural Review and contributing editor to Bomb magazine.