Editing Poetry slam (section)

==Poem==
Poetry slams can feature a broad range of voices, styles, cultural traditions, and approaches to writing and performance. The originator of performance poetry, Hedwig Gorski, credits slam poetry for carrying on the poetics of ancient oral poetry designed to grab attention in barrooms and public squares.<ref name="Gorski">Gorski, Hedwig & Cole, Joy. (2006). ''Intoxication: Heathcliff on Powell Street'' Slough Press. {{ISBN|978-1427604750}}.</ref>
 
Some poets are closely associated with the vocal delivery style found in [[hip-hop music]] and draw heavily on the tradition of [[dub poetry]], a rhythmic and politicized genre belonging to black and particularly West Indian culture. Others employ an unrhyming narrative formula. Some use traditional theatrical devices including shifting voices and tones, while others may recite an entire poem in ironic monotone. Some poets use nothing but their words to deliver a poem, while others stretch the boundaries of the format, tap-dancing or [[beatboxing]] or using highly [[Choreography|choreographed]] movements.

What is a dominant/successful style one year may not be passed to the next. [[Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz]], slam poet and author of ''Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam'', was quoted in an interview on the Best American Poetry blog as saying:

<blockquote>One of the more interesting end products (to me, at least) of this constant shifting is that poets in the slam always worry that something—a style, a project, a poet—will become so dominant that it will kill the scene, but it never does. Ranting hipsters, freestyle rappers, bohemian drifters, proto-comedians, mystical shamans and gothy punks have all had their time at the top of the slam food chain, but in the end, something different always comes along and challenges the poets to try something new.<ref name="BAP">{{cite web|url=http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2008/04/the-life-histor.html|work=Best American Poetry Blog|title=The Life Story of the Death of Art |author=Janice Erlbaum|date=April 3, 2008}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:BobHolmanNewYorkCity2006.JPG|thumb|Bob Holman]]
One of the goals of a poetry slam is to challenge the authority of anyone who claims absolute authority over literary value. No poet is beyond critique, as everyone is dependent upon the goodwill of the audience. Since only the poets with the best cumulative scores advance to the final round of the night, the structure assures that the audience gets to choose from whom they will hear more poetry. Audience members furthermore become part of each poem's presence, thus breaking down the barriers between poet/performer, critic, and audience.

[[Bob Holman]], a poetry activist and former slammaster of the [[Nuyorican Poets Cafe]], once called the movement "the democratization of verse".<ref name="Aloud1">Algarín, Miguel & Holman, Bob. (1994) ''Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe'' Holt. {{ISBN|0-8050-3257-6}}.</ref> In 2005, Holman was also quoted as saying: "The spoken word revolution is led a lot by women and by poets of color. It gives a depth to the nation's dialogue that you don't hear on the floor of [[United States Congress|Congress]]. I want a floor of Congress to look more like a National Poetry Slam. That would make me happy."<ref name="aptowicz1">Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). ''Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam.'' Chapter 26: What the Heck Is Going On Here; The Bowery Poetry Club Opens (Kinda) for Business. Soft Skull Press, 288. {{ISBN|1-933368-82-9}}.</ref>