Pennsylvania Site Hosts Poetry Slam
Publication: Pocono Record
Date: April 30, 2010
Summary: Young poets prepare to battle at Slamfest, a spoken-word performance and competition hosted by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Writing Project.
Excerpt from Article
Dr. Lesliee Antonette is the site co-director of the NEPA Writing Project, a part of the National Writing Project. Antonette said that spoken word actually began with the Beat poets, a school of poets who flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as Allen Ginsberg. "The stereotype of these poets is that they dressed in black and would snap their fingers," McGarvin-Fernandez said, adding that hip-hop and rap emerged from the Bronx, N.Y., in the early 1970s.
Antonette said, "Hip-hop is an umbrella term. Rap and slam are under that umbrella. Rap is more violent and deals with violent imagery. The themes of rap often relate to social aggression. Rap artists tend to be older professional people, like M.C. Hammer. Slam poets tend to be younger and use themes that are not as aggressive, although the language could get a little colorful."
The themes are often based on social issues. Antonette said that slam is not only for black and Hispanic youth, but it is for those of every background, including those of various sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, genders, colors and cultures. "It is a generational movement."
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Read Spitting words at Slamfest tonight 
in the Pocono Record.