Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam

Discover the rich history of slam poetry through the lens of the New York City scene that pioneered it

Author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz situates New York slam poetry in the history of oral tradition in poetry throughout history and around the world, with particular attention to the three major 20th century arts movements that helped set the stage for it: the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, and hip hop. Aptowicz explores the birth of slam at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café and the genre’s explosive g...