spoken word

MacDowell Fellow Erika Renee Land performing at the Newberry Library in Chicago during the Surviving The Long Wars Triennial Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem's as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition, most notably the Greek oral-formulaic tradition, which produced the oldest works in the Western tradition, that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation and word play, such as the performer's live intonation and voice inflection. Spoken word is a catch-all term that includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including poetry readings, poetry slams, jazz poetry, pianologues, musical readings, and hip hop music, and can include comedy routines and prose monologues. Unlike written poetry, the quality of spoken word is shaped less by the visual aesthetics on a page, and more from phonaesthetics or the aesthetics of sound.

History