Listen Up!

by Zoe Angelsey, Yusef Komunyakaa (Foreword by)

"Today, the poetry scene flourishes at New York open-mic spots like the Nuyorican Poets Café, Brooklyn's YWCA Tea Party and Harlem's Sugar Shack. Progeny of hip poets--the Beats of the 50s and protest poets of the 60s and 70s--these up-and-coming literati cast their diverse spells of word beats inspiring young contemporaries in Cleveland, Ohio, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta; later branching out internationally to poetry circuit venues in Tokyo, Rio de Janiero, London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Istanbul."
--Zoë Anglesey
   Editor, Listen Up!

Spoken word poetry is a cross-cultural phenomenon. Here for the first time in one hot volume are poems from the nation's top spoken word artists. Listen Up! features nine brilliant award-winning scribes who have ignited audiences worldwide with their soulful verse, bold alliterations, and sultry fusion of rhythm and rhyme--electrifying audiences as they chant, sing, recite, and improvise their poetry and powerful point of view.

Among these nine literary luminaries are Carl Hancock Rux, named by The New York Times as one of thirty young artists "most likely to change the culture in the next thirty years"; Jessica Care Moore, a record-breaking five-time winner of the Apollo competition; and Saul Williams, co-scriptwriter and star of the feature film Slam, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the prestigious Camera D'Or at Cannes.

Packed with penetrating interviews on the craft of writing poetry, insight into the art of performance, and on-target, off-guard photos of the poets in action at history-making poetry slams, this unforgettable collection is the next best thing to being there live.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good sampling of spoken-word poets from New York in the 1990s. The poems did a decent job including white space to imitate the cadence of speech, though obviously much is lost when putting a visual-and-auditory art-form onto paper. I appreciated the respect paid to hip hop and rap throughout, by all authors. My favorites were Suheir Hammad, Tish Benson, Willie Perdomo, and Carl Hancock Rux.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen Up! provides an overview of the NYC poetry slam scene of the 90's, including its founding. I loved the introductions, but the poetry is incredible. It's gritty, it's summer evening sky, it's chipped staircases, it's beautiful and musical and honest. So so well written. I need to buy this.

[AnandaTashie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of slam / spoken word poetry, featuring several poets based out of 1990s NY.

Some lines that I liked:

"I wanna be yo eye drops: clear liquid / soothing wild / dark / beautiful places / where images take wing and sing" (Tish Benson)

"but this is the sage train: / ancient shamans / middle passage ship jumpers / sojourners marchers / they know / lean into themselves" (Tish Benson)

"drift to clearer consciousness... / when we were notes... / Just covered in skin..." (Tish Benson)

"If I could breathe her in and out of me / would I be able to sew the most intricate garment / with the lightest thread?" (Ava Chin)

"is your skin still soft / here feel mine a shine of survival / feel you left me / wet love dried on thighs still / aching said you were / sore after the last / time are you still" (Suheir Hammad)

"I will not define myself with false definitions of survival" (Jessica Care Moore)

"I'll cut off all your grass roots / and hope to find the blacker flower" (Jessica Care Moore)

"learn to gather your tears into your fists / realizing water will never grant your wishes / reflections are always true but never wet / so we kiss ourselves / till our lips turn dry and honest" (Jessica Care Moore)

"attached to strangers / who smell like family on Sunday morning / you'll never really be loved that way again / this shit is temporary / keep reminding yourself baby girl / while looking for unconditional daddy love / that he will only have his eyes / but never his heart / will have his walk / but never his feet" (Jessica Care Moore)

"remember / the poems you / used to write / about the block / where dead-end / screams are heard / too late / and everybody / turns the other way / this is / home / 125th St." (Willie Perdomo)

Powerful poem, but it really needs to be read in entirety rather than isolation: Blue Candy by Carl Hancock Rux.

"I want to walk barefoot / in a place where barefoot has no name / in a place where soul on Earth / is natural / a place where toes in soil / is common as / true love / laughter / and birth. // I want to walk barefoot / in the hills of a hidden holy land / and stare at sunsets with people who / know sunrise isn't guaranteed / in a place where the evening news speaks of tides, / the waning moon and rainforests wild as Oya's dance" (Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie) (Also has other really good poems about women's experiences - birth, rape, etc.)

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I selected Listen Up!: Spoken Word Poetry, I did so simply because it contained a couple of poems by Saul Williams. I'm a fan of Williams's work and pleased to read anything by him. In these pages, I discovered a good collection of other poets inspired by the Spoken Word.

I happen to like Spoken Word poetry, when it's done well. There are posers out there, but some people understand the use of words and the sounds those words make, influencing one another. Williams is particularly adept at this, but I found other poets in this collection that moved me as well.

Willie Perdomo's "Notes for a Slow Jam," Suheir Hammad's "Nother Man Dead," and Ava Chin's "Piano Concerto" are some of my favorites. But it is Williams, in his three part "Children of the Night," that really sold this book for me.

Not every poem, or even every poet, in this collection captures my imagination. Even so, it is a good collection to own, and better to share.

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book, I knew I would love it, because I am naturaly a fan of spoken word; this collection of poems by nine masters of the spoken word form who perfected their art in the Brooklyn Moon Cafe and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe here in NYC. A short bio of each of these poets of color is followed by three or four samples of their work. Spoken word poetry kinda defies definition, but it’s a little like a story, a little like a song, and usually has a beat. It can be confrontational, contemplative, both, or neither. Read it you'll love it!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was beyond impressive. I could have done without the long-winded introduction, however. Aside from that, most of these poets literally blew my mind. Terrific experience.

[Aaron Johnson]

If you don't know about Saul Williams and spoken word poetry then to me your missing out on today's most promising poet. Some poets to look out for I feel are Beau Sia, Black Ice, Jessica Care Moore, Flow Mentalz and Shihan. But even if you don't have good taste like me then you'll at least check out Def Poetry Jam.