The spoken word poetry movement, which combines the edginess of hip-hop with the drama of performance art, has added fresh energy to the American & international poetry scenes. Poetry jams, which gained popularity in the early 1990s at small clubs like New York's legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe, are the stages on which the best poets come together to trade verse. Launched by hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, Def Poetry Jam is a project that does for spoken-word what Simmons's Def Comedy Jam did for comedy, taking an exciting, unheralded scene to the mainstream. Def Poetry Jam includes a national tour of slam competitions, spoken-word showcases in major cities, an interactive website, & this book, which features original work from both established & emerging spoken-word artists from throughout the country. Edited by two of the best-regarded poets of the scene, Bum Rush the Page is the definitive collection of today's best spoken-word poetry. Bum Rush the Page is a groundbreaking collection, capturing the best new work from the poets who have brought fresh energy, life, and relevance to American poetry. Here is a democratic orchestration of voices and visions, poets of all ages, ethnicities, and geographic locations coming together to create a dialogue and to jam, not slam. This is our mouth on paper, our hearts on our sleeves, our refusal to shut up and swallow our silence. These poems are tough, honest, astute, perceptive, lyrical, blunt, sad, funny, heartbreaking, and true. They shout, they curse, they whisper, and sing. But most of all, they tell it like it is.
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