The Art Of Spoken Word

 It's not what you say, it's how you say it. The art of slam poetry is the expression of a personal story, very powerful and sincere. Some people might say that slam poetry is "a scramble of words that may or may not make sense to the reader, but always means something to someone." Poetry is passion, and when you're passionate about something you're speaking about it can become a performance. "There’s something about hearing a poem being performed that feels like listening to music: the delivery, pitch, and rhythm are tailored to create just the right reaction and hit you in a very specific way."

Shayne Koyczan was the first Canadian to win the individual championship title at the national poetry slam in the year 2000. He grew up in our lovely city of Penticton, but became very well known for his poem on bullying titled "To This Day".  This poem explores the abstruse and lasting impact that bullying can have on an individual. Koyczan takes the audience through his tale of his school ground battlefield where he would get "bombarded by spit balls" and often "rehearse[d] running away". Goosebumps will arise on ones skin after hearing the vigorous words and they way they are delivered. 

Taylor Mali emerged out of the school shadows from his job as a teacher and amazed many with his impressive slam poetry abilities. Mali has been on seven National Poetry Slam teams, six of which made it to the final round, and four of them won. A vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, he spent nine years at Browning school teaching everything from English and history to math and S.A.T preparation. He is well recognized for his slam poem "What Teachers Make", where he depicts his life as a teacher and the difference he makes on his students.Mali "break[s] it down for [us]" so we know what he says is true, "teachers make a goddamn difference" in this world and are not appreciated for what they do. He has the "if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it" attitude, and does not hold back in the slightest way while he expresses his feelings about his teaching career. He presents his passion of teaching through the expression of poetry.

Sarah Kay writes poetry to figure things out, she is the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E., founded in 2004, a group dedicated to using spoken word as an educational and inspirational tool. Her selective word choice is enough to keep anyone captivated, Kay's poem "If I Should Have A Daughter" provides insightful opinions of the pains that her daughter will go through, but how the strength of an experienced mother will always be there for support. She will have her daughter call her "point B" so that she can always find her way to her. Sarah Kay received a standing ovation for her performance of this poem on TEDTalks, and continues to encourage others to express themselves with poetry through the project V.O.I.C.E..