Spoken Word

Bennett’s engaging history of a literary and cultural movement that took hold in many realms - music, theater, film, television and, of course, poetry - tracks its evolution from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe to slam poetry and beyond. * New York Times, Editors’ Choice *
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 renders this lush history in lively, captivating prose, smoothly transporting us back to the city blocks, bars, cafes and stages these artists traversed and inhabited. Perhaps most endearingly, and what makes this book shine with a refreshing dynamism, is that this history is also his own. Having ‘lived out every part of the story’ he hopes to tell, he is uniquely qualified to walk readers through the story of spoken word … This book is not only a thoroughly researched and engrossing history by an accomplished and qualified academic, but also, and perhaps more significantly, a tender and heartwarming narrative of the evolution of an art form from a passionate, charismatic participant who was on the ground, in the audience and on the stage himself * Tas Tobey, The New York Times *
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. * Therí A. Pickens, author of ‘Black Madness :: Mad Blackness’ *
A talented poet in his own right, Bennett turns his attention to tracing the lineage and celebrating the impact of spoken word poetry in the U.S. … Composed in dynamic, interlocking scenes, the story unfolds effortlessly despite the scholarly rigor and research evident in the writing… . Bennett succeeds in his efforts to “reclaim the political ethos and persistent dreaming” of spoken word poetry’s bright past and brighter future. * Diego Báez, Booklist *
Bennett, a Dartmouth English professor and poet who counts Guggenheim and National Endowment of the Arts fellowships among his many honors, traces the widespread cultural influence of spoken word poetry, from its 20th-century beginnings in New York to its 21st-century proliferation in digital media… . . A well-researched, invigorating celebration of a spirited art form. * Kirkus Reviews *
Engaging … While competing with his collegiate slam team at the University of Pennsylvania, Bennett absorbeda powerful lesson from a mentor. He learned that performance poetry could be interpreted as an “insistence on his own survival.” That’s a ringing endorsement for this art form, and this book. * James Sullivan, The San Francisco Chronicle *

Joshua Bennett is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. He is the author of four books of poetry and criticism: The Sobbing School (Penguin, 2016), winner of the National Poetry Series and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award, as well as Being Property Once Myself (Harvard University Press, 2020), Owed (Penguin, 2020), and The Study of Human Life (Penguin, 2022). Earlier this year, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Whiting Award for Poetry and Nonfiction. Joshua earned his Ph.D. in English from Princeton University, and an M.A. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Warwick, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He has recited his original works at the Sundance Film Festival, the NAACP Image Awards, and President Obama’s Evening of Poetry and Music at the White House. He has also performed and taught creative writing workshops at hundreds of middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States, as well as in the U.K. and South Africa. Joshua has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, MIT, and the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. His writing has been published in Best American Poetry, The New York Times, The Paris Review, Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. Alongside his friend and colleague, Jesse McCarthy, he is the founding co-editor of Minor Notes, a Penguin Classics book series dedicated to minor poets within the black expressive tradition. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and son, Pam and August, and their family dog, Apollo 5.

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