Home > Spoken word

One of the most common sorts of spoken word performances is performance poetry, where a poet either reads previously-published poems, or reads poems specifically written to be performed aloud. Another kind that has gained popularity in recent years is political and social commentary, done in such a way that it is, while still prose, somewhat more artistic than a typical speech. Spoken word artists are often poets and musicians.

Artists known for spoken word performances and recordings

• Performance poetry:
  • Jack Kerouac
  • William S. Burroughs
  • Exene Cervenka
  • bpNichol
  • Allen Ginsberg
  • The Four Horsemen
  • Susan McMaster
  • Colin Morton
  • Andrew McClure
  • First Draft
  • Geode Music & Poetry
  • Tom Waits

• Political and social commentary:
  • Jello Biafra
  • Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
  • Bill Hicks
  • Noam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an Institute Professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. His works in generative linguistics contributed si
  • Alix Olson
  • Henry RollinsHenry Rollins (born February 13, 1961) is an American rock music performer, storyteller, author, actor and poet. Born Henry Garfield in Washington D. he was enrolled in a prep school. He became involved in the punk scene through his close friend Ian MacKa
  • Saul WilliamsBorn in Newburgh, N. 1972, Saul Williams has been considered as a powerful voice of the hip-hop generation as a poet, preacher, actor, rapper, singer and musician. He is most renown for his blend of spoken word poetry hip-hop. External Links .
  • Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is a poet and musician, known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer, associated with African American militant activists. Heron is most well known for his poem/song " The Revoluti

• Both:
  • Ani DiFrancoAni DiFranco (pronounced "AHH-nee") (born September 23, 1970) is a progressive feminist singer, guitarist and songwriter. Born in Buffalo, New York, Ani started playing gigs at the age of nine and built her career from there. In 1989, at the age of eighte
  • Garrison KeillorGarrison Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an author and radio host. He is best known as the founder and host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion (also known as Garrison Keillor's Radio Show on BBC 7 and in Ireland). Keillor's trade
  • Timothy LearyTimothy Leary ( October 22, 1920 May 31, 1996) was an American writer, psychologist, and drug campaigner. He is most famous as a proponent of the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of LSD. During the 1960s, he coined and popularized the catch phrase " Tur
  • John TrudellJohn Trudell (born February 15, 1946 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American author, a poet, musician and a former political activist. Trudell is the son of a Santee Sioux father and a Mexican mother. He grew up around the Santee reservation near Omaha. He joi