List of performance poets
Encyclopedia
The following is a partial list of performance poets. See performance poetry
for more information.
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Performance poetry
Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution.-History:...
for more information.
Canada
- Lillian AllenLillian AllenLillian Allen is a Canadian dub poet, reggae musician, writer and Juno award winner.-Biography:Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica in 1951, she left that country in 1969, first moving to New York City, where she studied English at the City University of New York...
- Afua CooperAfua CooperAfua Cooper is a Jamaican-born Canadian historian, author and dub poet.-Biography:Born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, Cooper grew up in Kingston, Jamaica and migrated to Toronto in 1980. She holds a Ph.D. in African-Canadian history with specialties in slavery and abolition...
- Gordon DownieGordon DownieGordon Edgar Downie is a Canadian rock musician, writer and occasional actor. He is the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. He has released three solo albums, Coke Machine Glow in 2001, Battle of the Nudes in 2003; and The Grand Bounce in 2010...
- Shane KoyczanShane KoyczanShane L. Koyczan is a Canadian poet and writer. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. In 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the US National Poetry Slam. Together with Mighty Mike McGee and C. R...
- Brendan McLeodBrendan McLeodBrendan McLeod is a Canadian spoken word artist, musician and novelist. His work often deals with the exploration of social and political commentary, family histrionics, surreal love poems, obscure adventure stories, and powerful personal stories....
- Susan McMasterSusan McMasterSusan McMaster is a Canadian poet, literary editor, and spoken word/performance poet who lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She is currently President of the League of Canadian Poets....
- Chris TseChris TseChris Tse is a Canadian spoken word poet of Chinese descent. He has won numerous poetry slam competitions and was the former captain of the Capital Slam team that won the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word championship....
- Dwayne MorganDwayne MorganDwayne Morgan is a Canadian spoken word artist, motivational speaker and event organizer based in Toronto, Ontario.Morgan began his career as a spoken word artist in 1993. He is the founder of Up From The Roots Entertainment, which was established in 1994 to promote the positive artistic...
- Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-SamarasinhaLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-SamarasinhaLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a Toronto-based poet, writer, educator and social activist. Her writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of color, abuse survivors, mixed-race people and diasporic South Asians and Sri Lankans...
- Sheri-D WilsonSheri-D WilsonSheri-D Wilson is a Canadian poet and playwright.Sheri-D Wilson has written seven collections of poetry; her most recent, Autopsy of a Turvy World , was launched in April 2008. Her last collection, Re:Zoom , won the 2006 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry, and was shortlisted for the CanLit...
- Leslie WagnerLeslie WagnerProfessor Leslie Wagner CBE is a British academic, who has been Vice-Chancellor of two universities, and Chancellor of Derby University.Wagner was born 21 February 1943. He obtained a BA and MA at Manchester University and worked for the UK government until 1970, when he became a lecturer in...
- Anthony Brenton
- Steve MillerSteve MillerSteve or Steven Miller may refer to:*Steve Miller , President and CEO of the Professional Bowlers Association*Steve Miller , CEO of Delphi Corporation*Steven L...
United States
A-E- Taalam AceyTaalam AceyTaalam Acey is an American spoken word artist. He began pursuing the art in 1997 after visiting a poetry reading upon the invitation of a friend. At that point in his life, Acey was a full-time lecturer in senior level accounting at Rutgers University and a principal partner in a small business...
- AluristaAluristaAlurista is the nom de plume of Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia , a Chicano poet and activist.-Youth and education:...
- David AntinDavid AntinDavid Antin is a United States poet and critic. In the late 1960s, Antin began performing extemporaneously, improvising "talk poems" at readings and exhibitions...
- Apollo Poetry
- Craig ArnoldCraig ArnoldCraig Arnold was an American poet and professor. His first book of poems, Shells , was selected by W. S. Merwin for the Yale Series of Younger Poets...
- Robert AshleyRobert AshleyRobert Ashley , is a contemporary American composer, best known for his operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. Along with Gordon Mumma, Ashley was also a major pioneer of audio synthesis.Ashley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
- Amiri BarakaAmiri BarakaAmiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
- John M. BennettJohn M. BennettJohn M. Bennett is an American experimental text, sound, and visual poet.- Writing and publishing :As well as steadily producing and distributing his own work, Bennett, through "Luna Bisonte Prods", a small press founded in 1974, has published thousands of limited edition items by writers who...
- Buddy WakefieldBuddy WakefieldBuddy Wakefield is an American performance poet/slam poet, whose latest works have been released by Righteous Babe Records and Write Bloody Publishing .- Biography :...
- Big Poppa EBig Poppa EBig Poppa E is a performer of slam poetry. His live performances combine poetry, stand-up comedy, and dramatic monologue in high-energy rants about relationships, pop culture, and hot button issues of the day. He has appeared on three seasons of HBO's Def Poetry series and is a National Poetry Slam...
- Brother DashBrother DashBrother Dash is an American Muslim spoken word artist, essayist and photographer.-Career:...
- Derrick Brown
- B. DolanB. DolanB. Dolan is an American rapper, activist, and performance artist, based in Hanton City, Rhode Island.As an activist, Dolan is known primarily as the co-creator and co-founder of , a wiki devoted to connecting consumers with Social Responsibility information about corporations. As well as being a...
- Roger Bonair-AgardRoger Bonair-AgardA native of Trinidad and Tobago, Roger Bonair-Agard is a poet who lives in Chicago. Bonair-Agard was a member of the 1997 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam team and later coached the 1998 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam team, which went on to win the National Poetry Slam Championship that year in...
- Giannina BraschiGiannina BraschiGiannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
- Clint CatalystClint CatalystClint Catalyst is an American author, actor, spoken word performer, and stylist.Catalyst has covered music, fashion, LGBT issues, and popular culture for magazines including LA Weekly, Frontiers, Out, Surface and Swindle.-Early life:Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Catalyst was raised an only child...
- Richard Cambridge
- Staceyann ChinStaceyann ChinStaceyann 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...
- Jim CohnJim CohnJim Cohn is a poet, poetry activist, and spoken word artist in the United States. He was born in Highland Park, Illinois, in 1953. Early poetics and musical influences include Bob Dylan, the subject of a now lost audiotaped for a class project completed in his senior year at Shaker Heights High...
- Allison Hedge CokeAllison Hedge CokeAllison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American Book Award-winning American/Canadian poet of mixed Wendat/Huron/Metis/Tsalagi/ Creek/French Canadian/Portuguese/Irish/Scot/English ancestry.-Background:...
- Steve ConnellSteve ConnellSteven Gerard Connell is an American actor, playwright, poet and spoken word artist.-Biography:Born in Thousand Oaks, California, Connell is the youngest of two children...
- Jamie DeWolf
- Maggie EstepMaggie EstepMaggie Estep is an American poet and writer. She has published six books and released two spoken word albums: Love is a Dog From Hell and No More Mr. Nice Girl.Estep was born in 1963 in Summit, New Jersey...
F-J
- Karen FinleyKaren FinleyKaren Finley is an American performance artist, whose theatrical pieces and recordings have often been labelled "obscene" due to their graphic depictions of sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement...
- Shaggy FloresShaggy Flores"Shaggy Flores" is a Nuyorican poet, writer and African Diaspora scholar who forms part of the Nuyorical literary movement.-Early years:...
- Ragan Fox
- Kip FulbeckKip FulbeckKip Fulbeck is an American artist, spoken word performer, filmmaker and author. Fulbeck's work explores identity politics.His mixed race ethnic background is Cantonese, English, Irish, and Welsh...
- Andrea GibsonAndrea GibsonAndrea Gibson born April 22, 1975 is an award-winning poet and activist. She currently lives in Colorado. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, and today's struggles facing non-heterosexual people. Gibson disclosed that she chose to write what was in her bones and thus these subject...
- Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
- John GiornoJohn GiornoJohn Giorno is an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, including Dial-A-Poem. He became prominent as the subject of Andy Warhol's film Sleep...
- Jesse GlassJesse Glass-In America:Glass first began to write and publish experimental poetry in c. 1972. Starting in 1976, he edited and published the mimeographed Goethe’s Notes Magazine and Goethe's Press from his family home in Westminster, Maryland...
- Gary Glazner
- Guillermo Gómez-PeñaGuillermo Gómez-PeñaGuillermo Gómez-Peña was born in Mexico City and moved to the US in 1978, where he established himself as a performance artist, writer, activist, and educator. He has pioneered multiple media, including performance art, experimental radio, video, performance photography and installation art...
- Roxy GordonRoxy GordonRoxy Gordon was a Choctaw and Assiniboine poet, novelist, musician and activist.-Source:...
- Hedwig GorskiHedwig GorskiDr. Hedwig Gorski is an American performance poet and an avant-garde artist who labels her aesthetic as American Futurism...
- John S. HallJohn S. HallJohn S. Hall is an American poet, author, singer and lawyer perhaps best known for his work with King Missile, an avant-garde band that he co-founded in 1986 and has since led in various disparate incarnations....
- Suheir HammadSuheir HammadSuheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American poet, author and political activist. She was born in Amman, Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, New York City when she was five years old...
- Matt HarveyMatt Harvey (poet)Matt Harvey is a British humourist and performance poet who has published a number of books and makes regular contributions to radio broadcasts.He began his career as a performer in 1992, giving live performances to audiences in the South West of England...
- Bradley HathawayBradley HathawayBradley Hathaway is a spoken word poet and a folk singer and songwriter from Fort Smith, Arkansas-Biography:Bradley Hathaway was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas and lived there until 1997, when he moved to Alma, Arkansas, where he graduated from high school in 2000.After high school, he attended the...
- Bob HolmanBob HolmanBob Holman is a poet and poetry activist in the United States.- Career :After graduating from Columbia University in 1970, Bob Holman founded, with Sara Miles and Susie Timmons, the NYC Poetry Calendar, a free monthly publication with all the readings and poets "on the same page"...
- Detrick HughesDetrick HughesDetrick Oliver Hughes, best known as Detrick Hughes, is an American Poet, and spoken word artist. Hughes is known for urban commentary and life expressions offered via the genre of poetry.-Personal:...
- David JewellDavid Jewell (poet)David Jewell is an American Performance poet.-Career:A movie credit in Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise with his poem Delusion Angel. An appearance as an animated cloud in Linklater's Waking Life....
- Jerome "J-Square" Jones
- Anthony JosephAnthony JosephAnthony Joseph is a British poet, novelist, musician and lecturer.Joseph was born in Trinidad and was raised by his grandparents. He began writing as a young child and cites his main influences as the Calypso, surrealism, jazz, the spiritual Baptist church that his grandparents attended, and the...
K-P
- Sarah KaySarah Kay (poet)Sarah Kay is an American poet. Known for her spoken word poetry, Kay is the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E., a group dedicated to using spoken word as an inspirational tool.-Life:...
- KealohaKealohaKealoha is the stage name of slam poet Steven Kealohapau`ole Hong Ming Wong, founder of HawaiiSlam, First Thursdays, and Youth Speaks Hawai`i. He has been described as Hawai`i's "slam poet laureate," and was honored as a "National Slam Legend" at the 2010 National Poetry Slam. He is of...
- Nomy LammNomy LammNaomi Elizabeth "Nomy" Lamm is an American singer/songwriter and political activist. Lamm has described herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee."-Biography:Lamm was involved with musical theater during her youth...
- The Last PoetsThe Last PoetsThe Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
- Lydia LunchLydia LunchLydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
- Taylor MaliTaylor MaliTaylor Mali is an American slam poet, humorist, teacher, and voiceover artist.-Life:A 10th-generation native of New York City, Taylor Mali graduated from the Collegiate School, a private school for boys, in 1983. He received a B.A. in English from Bowdoin College in 1987 and an M.A. in...
- Jeffrey McDanielJeffrey McDanielJeffrey McDaniel is an American poet. He has published four books of poetry, most recently 'The Endarkenment' . He is the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts...
- Mighty Mike McGeeMighty Mike McGeeMichael Matthew McGee, more commonly known as Mighty Mike McGee , is an American slam poet.Born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, McGee is the oldest of eight children from several marriages. He has spent most of his life in and around San Jose, California, where he started his career in spoken word,...
- Karyna McGlynnKaryna McGlynnKaryna McGlynn is an American poet.She is a poet and critic associated with spoken-word, New Sincerity, and New Confessionalism.Karyna first became popular as a performance poet in the poetry slam scene in the late 1990s, regularly performing at the Electric Lounge and South by Southwest...
- Don McIverDon McIverDon McIver is a performance poet who first started performing his work in Denver, Colorado in the late 1980s before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He spent some time writing fiction, essays, and articles, before returning to poetry in 1997....
- Douglas A. MartinDouglas A. MartinDouglas A. Martin is a poet, a novelist and a short story writer.-Biography:He was raised in Warner Robins, Georgia and moved to New York City in 1998...
- Kevin MaxKevin MaxKevin Max Smith is an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He is best known for being a member of the Christian pop group dc Talk...
- Boonaa MohammedBoonaa MohammedBoonaa Mohammed is a Canadian Muslim poet. Mohammed was the winner of the 2007 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Poetry Face-Off “Best New Artist” award. He has a playwright residency at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto...
- Lenelle MoiseLenelle MoiseLenelle Moise is a poet, actress and playwright born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Currently based in the United States, she performs at colleges throughout the country, presenting work about race, gender, class, immigration and sexuality. Her spoken word CD Madivinez won the 2007 Patchwork Majority...
- Anis MojganiAnis MojganiAnis Mojgani is a spoken word poet, visual artist and musician based in Portland, Oregon.Mojgani has been characterized as a "geek genius" with "fiercely hopeful word arias"...
- José MontoyaJosé MontoyaJosé Montoya is a poet and an artist from Sacramento, California. He is one of the most influential Chicano bilingual poets. He has published many well-known poems in anthologies and magazines...
- Da'shade MoonbeamDa'shade MoonbeamDa'shade Moonbeam, is a rapper, poet, stage combat performer, and social worker from Austin, Texas.- Bio and Achievements :Born Jeffery Johnson Jr., Da'Shade grew up on Austin's east side. As a teenager, he was mentored by Zell Miller III, a social worker and performance artist, who encouraged...
- Alix OlsonAlix OlsonAlix Olson is an American poet who works exclusively in spoken word. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997 and uses her work to address issues of capitalism, sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia, misogyny, and patriarchy...
- Robert PetersRobert PetersRobert Louis Peters is a poet, critic, scholar, playwright, editor, and actor born in an impoverished rural area of northern Wisconsin in 1924. He holds a Ph.D in Victorian literature. His poetry career began in 1967 when his young son Richard died unexpectedly of spinal meningitis...
- Lynne ProcopeLynne ProcopeLynne Procope is a Trinidadian born American poet and textile designer. She is one of the founders of the louderARTS Project. In 1998, Procope made the 1998 Nuyorican Poetry Slam team. She and her fellow Nuyorican team members Alix Olson, Steve Coleman and Guy LeCharles Gonzalez would go on to win...
R-Z
- John RivesRives (poet)John G. Rives is a performance poet, storyteller, and author. He has appeared on multiple seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam and was a member of the Def Poetry international tour group. He has made multiple appearances at the TED Conference and has published several pop-up books for children...
- Ursula RuckerUrsula RuckerUrsula Rucker is an American spoken word recording artist. Rucker is known for a diverse repertoire, and for utilizing techniques that catch her listeners' attention.-Biography:...
- Carl Hancock RuxCarl Hancock RuxCarl Hancock Rux is an award winning writer and performer; former Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts and has taught or been in residence at University of California–San Diego, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts Amherst,...
- Michael SalingerMichael SalingerMichael Salinger is a poet, performer, and educator living in Northeast Ohio. He is one of the earliest participants in the National Poetry Slam, former board member of Poetry Slam inc., and current director of the organization's summer writing and performance conference...
- Bryan Lewis SaundersBryan Lewis SaundersBryan Lewis Saunders is a performance artist, videographer, and performance poet widely known for his disturbing spoken word rants, tragic art performances and Stand up tragedy....
- Jill ScottJill ScottJill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
- Beau SiaBeau Sia-Biography:Sia was born in Ohio. He is of Chinese-Filipino descent. Raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sia discovered spoken word poetry on MTV as a teenager...
- Otep ShamayaOtep ShamayaOtep Shamaya is an American singer-songwriter, the lead vocalist of the metal band Otep. She made her debut in 2000 with her band and released the full length albums Sevas Tra, House of Secrets, The Ascension, and Smash the Control Machine in June 2002, July 2004, October 2007, and August 2009...
- Marc Smith
- Patricia Smith
- Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
- Rod SmithRod Smith (poet)Rod Smith, who was born in Gallipolis, Ohio in 1962, is an American poet, editor and publisher. He grew up in Northern Virginia and moved to Washington, DC in 1987. Smith has authored several collections of poetry, including In Memory of My Theories, Protective Immediacy, and Music or Honesty. He...
- Sekou SundiataSekou SundiataSekou Sundiata was an African-American poet and performer, as well as a teacher at The New School in New York City. Famous students include musicians Ani DiFranco and Mike Doughty. His plays include The Circle Unbroken is a Hard Bop, The Mystery of Love, Udu, and The 51st Dream State...
- Taco Shop PoetsTaco Shop PoetsTaco Shop Poets is the name of a poetry and spoken word collective formed in 1994 at a Poetry Series, Taco Shop Poetry',' hosted by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez at the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park, San Diego. It grew to a collective of over 30 poets, band members and performance artists based...
- Robbie Q. TelferRobbie Q. TelferRobbie Q. Telfer is an American poet and poetry slam performer.He has been a featured performer in dozens of poetry shows throughout North America, including Toronto, Detroit, Oakland, Austin, St. Louis, Honolulu, Boston, and Providence, as well as the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City and the...
- Quincy TroupeQuincy TroupeQuincy Thomas Troupe, Jr., , is a poet, editor, journalist-Early life:The son of Negro League baseball catcher Quincy Trouppe , Troupe Jr. attended Grambling State University on a baseball scholarship...
- George WatskyGeorge WatskyGeorge Watsky is a poet and rapper from San Francisco, California. Watsky performs slam poetry, and was featured on Season 6 of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry on HBO...
- Buddy WakefieldBuddy WakefieldBuddy Wakefield is an American performance poet/slam poet, whose latest works have been released by Righteous Babe Records and Write Bloody Publishing .- Biography :...
- Anne WaldmanAnne WaldmanAnne Waldman is an American poet.Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the “Outrider” experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activist....
- Saul WilliamsSaul WilliamsSaul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
- Emanuel XavierEmanuel XavierIn 2005, Suspect Thoughts Press published Bullets & Butterflies: queer spoken word poetry, a collection Emanuel Xavier edited. The anthology featured the work of thirteen openly queer spoken word artists and new work by the editor himself including: "Legendary", "Outside" and "A Simple Poem." The...
United Kingdom
- Attila the StockbrokerAttila the StockbrokerAttila the Stockbroker is a punk poet, and a folk punk musician and songwriter. He performs solo and as the leader of the band Barnstormer...
- Francesca BeardFrancesca BeardFrancesca Beard is a writer and performance poet.She has been based in London for much of her adult life and cites the city as a major inspiration in her work....
- Pete BrownPete BrownPeter Ronald Brown is an English performance poet and lyricist.Best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce, Brown also worked with The Battered Ornaments, formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!, and worked with Graham Bond and Phil Ryan. Brown also writes film scores and formed a film...
- Craig CharlesCraig CharlesCraig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
- John Cooper ClarkeJohn Cooper ClarkeJohn Cooper Clarke is an English performance poet who first became famous during the punk rock era of the late 1970s when he became known as a "punk poet"...
- Jegsy DoddJegsy DoddJegsy Dodd is an English performance poet from Wirral. He first came to prominence in the 1980s with his backing group, The Sons of Harry Cross.The sons of harry cross where,Paul Spencer-Drums,Ian Jackson-Bass,Ken Hancock-Guitar...
- Matt HarveyMatt Harvey (poet)Matt Harvey is a British humourist and performance poet who has published a number of books and makes regular contributions to radio broadcasts.He began his career as a performer in 1992, giving live performances to audiences in the South West of England...
- John HegleyJohn HegleyJohn Richard Hegley is an English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter.-Early life:He was born in the Newington Green area of Islington, London, England, into a Roman Catholic household. He was brought up in Luton and Bristol...
- Adrian HenriAdrian HenriAdrian Henri was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group The Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology The Mersey Sound, along with Brian Patten and Roger McGough. The trio of Liverpool poets came to prominence in that city's...
- Michael HorovitzMichael HorovitzMichael Horovitz is an English poet, artist and translator.-Life and career:Michael Horovitz was the youngest of ten children who were brought to England from Nazi Germany by their parents, both of whom were part of a network of European-rabbinical families...
- HKB FiNNHKB FiNNHKB FiNN is a British musician, poet & writer. He is known for his role as lead singer for Hip Hop band Katch 22 and his solo work where he fuses a variety of music styles to create a unique sound...
- Linton Kwesi JohnsonLinton Kwesi JohnsonLinton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...
- Anthony JosephAnthony JosephAnthony Joseph is a British poet, novelist, musician and lecturer.Joseph was born in Trinidad and was raised by his grandparents. He began writing as a young child and cites his main influences as the Calypso, surrealism, jazz, the spiritual Baptist church that his grandparents attended, and the...
- Liverpool PoetsLiverpool poetsThe Liverpool Poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from Liverpool, England, influenced by 1950s Beat poetry. They were involved in the 1960s Liverpool scene that gave rise to The Beatles, during a time when the city was termed by US beat poet Allen Ginsberg "the centre of the consciousness...
- Roger McGoughRoger McGoughRoger Joseph McGough CBE is a well-known English performance poet. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please and records voice-overs for commercials, as well as performing his own poetry regularly...
- The Medway PoetsThe Medway PoetsThe Medway Poets were founded in Medway, North Kent in 1979. They were an English punk based poetry performance group and later formed the core of the first Stuckists Art Group. The members were Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Rob Earl, Bill Lewis, Sexton Ming and Charles Thomson...
- Ted MiltonTed MiltonTed Milton is an English poet and musician, best known for leading the Blurt, an experimental jazz-rock group.Milton grew up in Africa, Canada and Great Britain. He published some early poems in magazines like Paris Review...
- Andrew MotionAndrew MotionSir Andrew Motion, FRSL is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.- Life and career :...
- Brian PattenBrian Patten-Background:Born near Liverpool's docks, he attended Sefton Park School in the Smithdown Road area of Liverpool, where he was noted for his essays and greatly encouraged in his work by Harry Sutcliffe his form teacher. He left school at fifteen and began work for The Bootle Times writing a column...
- Jeremy ReedJeremy Reed (writer)Jeremy Reed is a Jersey-born writer, poet and prose stylist. Reed has published 50 major works in 25 years. He has written more than two dozen books of poetry, 12 novels, and volumes of literary and music criticism. He has also published translations of Montale, Cocteau, Nasrallah, Adonis, Bogary...
- Lemn SissayLemn SissayLemn Sissay MBE is an award-winning British author and broadcaster of Ethiopian and Eritrean parents.He is known for performances of his poetry and also with jazz fusion groups. He is a playwright, and has worked on radio and television...
- Rod SummersRod SummersRod Summers , born in Dorset, England, is a sound, visual, conceptual artist, performance poet, dramatist, mail artist and book artist, publisher, archivist, and lecturer on intermedia...
- Nick ToczekNick ToczekNick Toczek is a British writer and performer working variously as poet, journalist, magician, vocalist, lyricist and radio broadcaster. He was raised in Bradford and then took a degree in Industrial Metallurgy at Birmingham University where he began reading and publishing his poetry...
- VerbswishVerbswish- Early career :Despite encouragement from others to rap to beats, and his own fascination with alternative hip-hop, [verb]swish opted for his own approach, writing all the words first and then drafting in producer, Gavin Holligan to score the album...
- Seething WellsSeething WellsSeething Wells is a locality of Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is the site of a former water treatment works on the south bank of the River Thames. Part of it was redeveloped in the early 21st century. The filter beds remain the property of Thames Water, via their...
- Gez WalshGez WalshGez Walsh is a joiner, social worker and children's poet. He has written various books of children's comedy poetry including; "The Spot on my Bum", "The Return of the Spot", "Someone's Nicked My Knickers", "The Man in the Skirt", "Parents Zits and Hairy Bits.....
- Luke WrightLuke Wright (poet)Luke Wright is a British poet.Born in Hackney in 1982 Luke Wright was adopted as a baby and moved to North-Essex where he was raised.Inspired by Martin Newell and John Cooper Clarke he began writing and performing poetry aged 17, whilst still at sixth form college in Colchester. He soon met fellow...
- Peter WytonPeter WytonPeter Wyton is a 'poet of page and performance' who has published a number of books and who has appeared on BBC Radio. He is a widely published and prize-winning poet who has appeared at venues as diverse as Cheltenham Literature Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Oxford TV,...
- Murray Lachlan YoungMurray Lachlan YoungMurray Lachlan Young is a British performance poet whose humorous work enjoyed a spectacular but brief vogue during the mid-1990s. He was the first poet to be given a £1 million record deal, when he signed to EMI amid a blaze of publicity in 1996. He released one album, Vice And Verse.Young was...
- Benjamin ZephaniahBenjamin ZephaniahBenjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is an English writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008....
- Scroobius Pip
Australia
- Jas H. DukeJas H. DukeJas Heriot Duke was a cult figure in the Australian performance poetry scene. He worked much of his life in Melbourne Board of Works and began writing poetry in 1966. He was influenced by Dada, Expressionism and experimental movements...
- Jayne Fenton KeaneJayne Fenton KeaneJayne Fenton Keane is a contemporary Australian poet.Jayne Fenton Keane has published several books of poetry, a CD recording and is active as a performance poet and in multimedia poetry. The Transparent Lung has been adapted for radio in collaboration with Mike Ladd...
- Chris MansellChris MansellChris Mansell is an Australian poet and publisher.Born in Sydney, Chris Mansell grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales and in Lae, Papua New Guinea, later studying economics at the University of Sydney...
- Pi OPi OП. O. is an Australian, working class, anarchist, poet of Greek origin.Born in Katerini, Greece, П. O. came to Australia with his family around 1954. After time in Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, the family moved to the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy.П. O...
- Les WicksLes WicksLes Wicks is an Australian poet, publisher and editor. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting. This includes the publication of eight books of poetry.-Life:...
- Amanda StewartAmanda StewartAmanda Stewart is a contemporary Australian poet and sound/performance artist.Amanda Stewart began writing and performing poetry in the 1970s and has since produced a wide array of sound, video and multimedia work. In the 1980s she worked for ABC radio as a producer...
- Billy Marshall StonekingBilly Marshall StonekingBilly Marshall Stoneking is an Australian-American poet, playwright, filmmaker, and teacher. His son C.W. Stoneking is a musician.-Childhood and education:...
- Komninos ZervosKomninos ZervosKomninos Zervos is a Greek-Australian performance poet and teacher.-Life:Born in Melbourne in 1950, Komninos Zervos currently lives in Melbourne, Australia.Komninos' poems are a playful combination of social commentary, autobiography and farce...
- Max-MoMax-MoMax-Mo is a unique impro jazz/ funk/poetry and spoken word collective based in Adelaide, South Australia. The group was formed in March 2009 by founding musicians Steve Matters , Andy Mills , Derek Pascoe and performers Mike Ladd, Amelia Walker and Rob Walker – all published and...
New Zealand
- Tusiata AviaTusiata AviaTusiata Avia is a New Zealand page and performance poet born to a Samoan father and Palagi mother. Her poetry explores Pacifica and cross-cultural themes, as well as the borders between traditional and contemporary life, and between place and the self.She has toured both nationally and...
- Miriam BarrMiriam BarrMiriam Barr is a New Zealand page and performance poet.She is one of the original members of The Literatti, an Auckland-based performance poetry group started in 2006...
- Sam Hunt
- Craig IresonCraig IresonCraig Ireson is a Wellington-based, New Zealand performance poet, also known as The Karaoke Poet.Ireson is the organiser of the Wellington Word Collective, a community oriented collective of Wellington poets that produced the Wellington Word Festival and Newtown Spoken Word, a Wellington Fringe...
- Michael RuddMichael Rudd (poet)Michael Rudd is a New Zealand performance poet. He won a number of slams during time he spent living in Australia, and was a finalist in the Poetry Olympics....
- Apirana TaylorApirana TaylorApirana Taylor is a New Zealand poet, novelist, performer, story-teller, musician and painter.-Biography:Born in Wellington, Apirana Taylor is of Pākehā and Māori descent with affiliations to Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Ruanui. He was a prominent member of the Māori theatre...
- Andrew AllanAndrew AllanAndrew Allan , born in Scotland, was the national head of CBC Radio Drama from 1943 to 1955. He oversaw the work of some of the finest talents of the day – writers and actors such as Lister Sinclair, Mavor Moore, W.O...