Sister Outsider is a poetry duo that specializes in slam poetry or spoken word. [1] Dominique Christina and Denice Frohman are both Women of the World Poetry Slam Champions. Their collaboration has brought them success over the last two years as they have been to over 90 universities, colleges, conferences, and many other spaces across the United States. Inspired by the life of Audre Lorde, their premise is to encourage students and people across all generations to understand the power of art. They believe art can be a form of activism and expression that goes well beyond the page. [2] Aside from their vivid performances, Sister Outsider also offers workshops to help students with their poetry writing as well as the delivery aspect to slam poetry.
Christina and Frohman specialize in poetry about injustice amongst marginalized communities, people of color, and LGBTQ communities. Through poetry they break the silence and use it as a tool for social change on poverty issues and stereotypes amongst these communities . They stand against such margins of violent and unhealthy culture by going by the slogan, "We Exist. We Resist." Their use of spoken word and personal stories spark conversation and encourage discussion on political and social issues. [2] Their ability to incorporate activism with writing is what makes this duo inspiring.
“Before Sister Outsider left the Wabash campus, students were already discussing how best to go about bringing them back again. Sister Outsider provided the campus with an extremely engaging and entertaining evening of stellar performances during an evening show that was filled to capacity. Thank you Sister Outsider, for providing such needed and appreciated work.”
-Professor Perez, History Dept., ShOUT & Unidos Por Sangre Student Org. Advisor, Wabash College
“Sister Outsider’s performance to packed audience at Dartmouth College was inspiring in its honesty, integrity and ability to use the spoken word as a platform for education, communication, and social change. Their performance and workshops provided a space for all students to think critically, question, and challenge the status quo. For students who feel outside the norm or at the margins of acceptance, Sister Outsider’s poetry and message reinforces the fact that their presence, position, and voice are equal in both legitimacy and importance. The strength of their poetry reminds everyone that no one should apologize for her/his place in the world, but rather demand the rights their humanity affords.”
-Dr. Fluri, Director, Women's and Gender Studies Program, Dartmouth College [3]
A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery.
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic 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 "catchall" 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 poetic text takes its quality less from the visual aesthetics on a page, but depends more on phonaesthetics, or the aesthetics of sound.
Phil Kaye is a Japanese-American poet, writer and filmmaker. He is the co-director of Project VOICE, and writes and performs as a spoken word artist both in solo and group projects. Kaye is the author of two books, A Light Bulb Symphony (2011) and Date & Time (2018).
Dartmouth College and its students publish a number of journals, reviews, and magazines, including the Aegis and the Dartmouth Law Journal, a nationally recognized law publication run by undergraduate students.
Tracie Morris is an American poet. She is also a performance artist, vocalist, voice consultant, creative non-fiction writer, critic, scholar, bandleader, actor and non-profit consultant. Morris is from Brooklyn, New York. Morris' experimental sound poetry is progressive and improvisational. She is a tenured professor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Juan Felipe Herrera is an American poet, performer, writer, cartoonist, teacher, and activist. Herrera was the 21st United States Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. He is a major figure in the literary field of Chicano poetry.
Poetry Slam, Inc. (PSI) is a non-profit organization that runs three poetry slams: the National Poetry Slam (NPS), the Individual World Poetry Slam (iWPS), and the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WoWps). Poetry Slam, Inc. was established in 1997 to oversee and enforce the rules of the National Poetry Slam. Their mission is "to promote the performance and creation of poetry while cultivating literary activities and spoken word events in order to build audience participation, stimulate creativity, awaken minds, foster education, inspire mentoring, encourage artistic statement and engage communities worldwide in the revelry of language".
Staceyann Chin is a spoken-word poet, performing artist and LGBT rights political activist. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily, and has been featured on 60 Minutes. She was also featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she shared her struggles growing up as a gay person in Jamaica. Chin's first full-length poetry collection was published in 2019.
Kealoha is a poet and storyteller based in Hawaii. He was the first Poet Laureate of Hawaii and the first poet to perform at a Hawaii governor’s inauguration. In 2022 he received a Poets Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets.
The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is an annual festival produced by Spoken Word Canada and planned by a local Festival Organizing Committee in each host city.
Yellow Rage is a duo of Philadelphia-based Asian American female spoken word poets, made up of Michelle Myers, who holds a PhD from Temple University, and Catzie Vilayphonh, the Fashion Director for two.one.five magazine. Their poems are self-written and are often based on personal experiences, focussing on social and political issues relevant to the Asian American community and aiming to challenge common misconceptions of Asianness. The performances are often aggressive and include frequent swearing, but also include wit and humor.
Ian Keteku is a poet, musician and freelance journalist. Born as Ian Nana Yaw Adu Budu Keteku, his birth name mimics his diverse talents and interests. Raised in Canada and of Ghanaian heritage, Keteku earned the title of World Slam Poetry champion in France in the summer of 2010.
Brave New Voices was created by Youth Speaks Inc in 1998 after the inaugural Youth Speaks Teen slam poetry in San Francisco – the first poetry slam dedicated to youth in the world. Since that time, Brave New Voices has grown to represent youth ages 13–19 from all across the United States and several cities and countries from around the world. BNV is the largest ongoing spoken word event in the world. Cities compose teams of their top 4-6 youth poets to bring to the festival. When the festival began only four teams participated, and the competition has since grown to more than 50 teams.
Kyle Tran Myhre, better known by his stage name Guante, is an American hip hop recording artist, national slam poet champion (2008-2009), activist and educator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
DarkMatter was an art and activist collaboration between Janani Balasubramanian and Alok Vaid-Menon, known for their spoken word performances and queer/trans South Asian themes.
Denice Frohman is a poet, writer, performer and educator, whose work explores the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. Frohman uses her experience as a queer woman from a multi-cultural background in her writing. By addressing identity, her work encourages communities to challenge the dominant social constructs and oppressive narratives in place that are currently working against concepts of unity and equity. Her message is about claiming the power to be who you are. She was born and raised in New York City, and earned her master's degree in education from Drexel University.
Button Poetry is a Minneapolis-based poetry company and independent publisher of performance poetry. They are known for their viral videos of slam poetry performances, including a performance of "OCD" by Neil Hilborn that the Knight Foundation called "the most-viewed slam performance in history."
Alyesha Wise, aka "Ms. Wise" is a poet, teaching artist and co-founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement (S.L.A.M). From Camden, N.J., Alyesha currently resides in Los Angeles where she also serves as a teaching artist for Street Poets, Inc. She previously served as the head coach of Da Poetry Lounge's slam team and a co-coach for the Get Lit Youth slam team. Wise co-founded and was a co-host of The Pigeon Presents: The Philadelphia Poetry Slam. She has been featured in a speaking engagement on the TEDx Talk series in which she dedicated the talk to her younger sister and Camden. While in Philadelphia, Wise was a co-host of Jus Words, the longest running weekly open mic in the city at the time. She also founded the organization Love, Us, a Philadelphia-based organization and annual production which worked to spread unity and self-love through the arts. The production was a large attraction in the Philadelphia poetry scene and a Twitter trending topic in 2010. She is currently the founder and organizer of Black Women Necessary, a safe space for black women. Wise also served as a former teaching artist and volunteer coordinator at New Earth, and continues to teach and mentor in Los Angeles youth detention centers. In 2017, she authored the book, Carnival. Ron Howard once said about Alyesha's performance style, "Very Powerful."
Dominique Christina is a writer, performer and social activist. She is a champion at the National Poetry Series and Women of the World Poetry Slam.
InsideOut Literary Arts (InsideOut) is a 501(c)(3) literary nonprofit organization based in Detroit, Michigan, that uses creative writing and poetry programs to build students' literary and academic skills. InsideOut provides opportunities for Detroit students to work with professional writers through a school-based Writers-in-Residence program, afterschool programming, and community events.
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