Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution PDF
Preview Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution
U.S. $15.95 Poetry A groundbreaking collection of poems and essays by some of the most influential female spoken word artists of today “ Word Warriors is a treasure and a long time coming. A lot of my heroes are in this book. their words have kept me company for a host of nights, in dark bunks and on lonely roads, helping me to carry on.” – Musician Amy RAy of the Indigo Girls “ Coming to voice is coming to power—daring to make life in words—daring to be heard. that is the story this anthology tells. Hear it, listen in, let it resurrect you, let it take you from the deep silence into the comfort of soulful sound.” – b ell hooks, author of All About Love: New Visions and the poetry collection When Angels Speak of Love “ It’s difficult to find role models who’ve stood up to the system and lived to tell the tale. each and every one of the writers in this collection is a role model for anyone who wants to change the world. And if I’m feeling scared, powerless, sad, or less than, this is the book I intend to read to get my courage up.” – kAte boRnstein, author of Hello, Cruel World and Gender Outlaw “ Word Warriors is a mighty incantation. Various lines from these thirty-five writers S 3 p 5 have mutated into mantras in my mind. Word Warriors is not a book, it is a spell o that will change things for everyone who reads it.” kW eo – ingA muscio, author of Cunt and Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil nm e Wn o “ If you, like me, are often scared of poetry, this book is for you. the personal rl essays are like alluring hosts, leading you graciously but forcefully to writings de a that will make you cry, turned on, amazed, and awake.” rd ee – JennifeR bAumgARdneR, author of Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics vr os and coauthor of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future l ui tn “r aging, celebrating, and inspiring: Finally a strong spotlight beaming on the i voices that have carried the slam forward for two decades – women’s voices. In ot nh the beginning they gave it kick and consequence, twenty years later they still do.” e – m ARc kelly smith, creator and founder of the International Poetry Slam Movement Edited by Alix Olson ISBN 10: 1-58005-221-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-58005-221-4 Foreword by Eve Ensler SeAl PreSS www.sealpress.com Cover design by rowan Moore-Seifred Cover image royalty Free/Stockbyte/Getty Images WRWA_Cover.indd 1 8/9/07 10:18:44 AM 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution Alix Olson EditEd by ForEword by Eve Ensler WRWA_3.indd 1 8/23/07 12:27:19 PM Word Warriors 35 Women Leaders in the spoken Word revolution Copyright © 2007 alix olson all poems’ copyrights are held by their authors unless otherwise noted. None of the essays or poems may be reprinted without author’s written permission unless otherwise noted. Published by seal Press a Member of the Perseus Books Group 1400 65th street, suite 250 Emeryville, Ca 94608 all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Word warriors : 25 women leaders in the spoken word revolution / edited by alix olson. p. cm. includes bibliographical references and index. isBN-13: 978-1-58005-221-4 (alk. paper) isBN-10: 1-58005-221-5 (alk. paper) 1. american poetry—Women authors. 2. american poetry—20th centruy. 3. american poetry—21st century. 4. Women—United states—Poetry. 5. oral interpretation of poetry—History—20th century. 6. oral interpretation of poetry—History—21st century. 7. oral interpretation of poetry— Competitions. 8. Poetry slams. 9. Poetry—authorship. i. olson, alix. Ps589.W77 2007 811’.540809287—dc22 2007032584 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover design by rowan Moore-seifred, doublemranch.com interior design by McGuire Barber design Composition by steve Connell Printed in the United states of america WRWA_3.indd 2 8/23/07 12:27:19 PM This book is dedicated to my mom, Laura Katz Olson, for dressing me in blue overalls and for gifting me with the bright side. WRWA_3.indd 3 8/23/07 12:27:20 PM WRWA_3.indd 4 8/23/07 12:27:20 PM C o n t e n t s Foreword EvE EnslEr ix Introduction Alix olson xi sArAh JonEs Cast of Characters 1 your revolution wax poetic MichEllE tEA On Sister Spit 13 Pigeon Manifesto The Beautiful lEnEllE MoïsE Protégée 29 we live up here loch ness monsters dAphnE GottliEb Lost and Found 43 somewhere, over death drive (a transfession) nAtAliE E. illuM On Mothers and mothertongue 55 I am from, third cycle What we learn in one night AyA dE lEón Lyrical Self-defense and the Reluctant Female Rapper 63 Cellulite Grito de Vieques lEAh hArris A Mad Poet’s Manifesto 73 revenge of the crazy wimmin Take refuge MElizA bAñAlEs The Dirtiest Word You’ve Ever Heard 87 Do the Math Generations WRWA_3.indd 5 8/23/07 12:27:20 PM KArEn GArrAbrAnt Slam Ma’am 98 A Sylvia Plath Sliver Air Ego Balloon bEth lisicK Stumbling In 111 Empress of Sighs Monkey Girl GEnEviEvE vAn clEvE Page for a Day 121 A Quick Thank-You Note to Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath Altar Call (I Want Jesus Back) chEryl burKE Making a Name 132 Motor Oil Queen Jones KAtz A Choir is Born 144 Nothing Generation Taken in Like Oxygen c. c. cArtEr What I Remember 154 The Herstory of My Hips Warning Alix olson Turn it Down a Notch 166 Subtle Sister That the Protagonist Is Always a Man suhEir hAMMAd In My Own English 176 First Writing Since a prayer band rAchEl KAnn From Inside 193 montaña de oro Titular noMy lAMM Body Sanctuary 204 Book of Rules: A Girl’s Guide to Doing What You’re Told There’s always this feeling like something’s missing AndrEA Gibson Shaking It Off 215 andrew Blue Blanket WRWA_3.indd 6 8/23/07 12:27:20 PM thEA hillMAn My Longest Relationship 226 Starfucking Closer to Home or What Happens When You Reach for the Stars and They Reach Back Miscarriage Ellyn MAybE We All Leave Something 237 Ball and Chain Record Store Ellyn Maybe’s Dream trAciE Morris Ad-Libbing 256 Apology to Pangea Las Brujitas cristin o’KEEFE Aptowicz Working Luck 265 Lit (Or to the Scientist Whom I’m Not Speaking To Anymore) All I’d Leave Behind sini AndErson In Other Words 277 “God in You” Say More EilEEn MylEs In and Out of Spoken Word 287 An American Poem Merk lynnE procopE Taco Shop Tales 301 any closer to home and my heart will burst 2 Butterfly Nut House MArty McconnEll You Say You Want a Revolution 313 instructions for a body Joan of Arc to the $2,000-an-hour woman bitch Spilling Ink 323 Pussy Manifesto Red Roof In turiyA Autry And wAlidAh iMArishA Good Sista/Bad Sista 331 Supa Soul Sistas No You Don’t Know Me WRWA_3.indd 7 8/23/07 12:27:20 PM lynn brEEdlovE A Boy Among Weemoon 351 Knuckle Sandwich Breasticles stAcEyAnn chin Poet for the People 361 Cross-Fire Poem for the Gay Games JuliA sErAno Exceeding Expectations 374 sleeping sickness vice versa pAtriciA sMith Name-Calling 386 Asking for a Heart Attack Building Nicole’s Mama WRWA_3.indd 8 8/23/07 12:27:21 PM E v e E n s l e r The Way Girls Word I WANT TO TALk ABOuT THESE WOMEN, THESE words, these fierce flying no scheming, no vetted, no trying to land in the white house or sell me a toaster words. These words that grow in the jungles of the bellies of these women who stand on land they never owned or felt at home but the words grow and make a place a space for the others to live. Words in the mouths of these women slam, shoot like alphabet guns, fire fast digit letters and sounds into silence, into the invisible that lives forever visible right in front of us, the invisible that can’t be spoken until it’s spoken and so these brave chicks speak and speak, “breathless red faced and pissed off.” speak the hereti- cal, speak the blood body, speak not as representatives of their dark skinned selves or dyke diving selves or Gaza stripped selves. Not rep- resenting but presenting, not claiming we, but an unapologetic esca- lating have to say it see it be it me, me that is jammed slammed stuck in the dead center of invisible wastelands; malls, the too beautiful sub- urban roads, mean anonymous streets, soap opera reality TV sympho- nies. Me, me that has been so fucking programmed, conditioned to be skinny white ass, not taking up too much space, not round, not black, ix WRWA_3.indd 9 8/23/07 12:27:21 PM
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