We get asked often how and where we find poets. We hope this will be a resource for you in finding poets and poems to share with your students.
A perfect place to explore poets is the #TeachLivingPoets Digital Library
Created by Scott Bayer @Lyricalswordz & Melissa Alter Smith @MelAlterSmith
Also, check out the #TeachLivingPoets Twitter chat archive page.
If you click here, you will find a links to poems that poets love to teach. The list was originally curated on Twitter by poet Rosebud Ben-Oni.
Here’s a list of favorite spoken word and slam poems curated by Joe Paris @ParisBMS:
Author |
Title / Link |
Topic |
Type |
|
Sarah Kay |
Hands (performance at Apollo) |
Relationship with father |
Def Poetry Jam |
|
Sarah Kay |
The type of woman you are — advice/inspiration/ empowerment |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Sarah Kay |
Anticipating raising a child / advice |
TED Talk |
|
|
Sarah Kay |
Extended metaphor / love poem |
NYC Urbana Slam; Bowery Poetry Club |
|
|
Sarah Kay |
Relationships / extended metaphor |
Sheen Center for Thought and Culture |
|
|
Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye |
Love / misconceptions / understandings |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Rudy Francisco |
Autobiographical/Self analysis |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Rudy Francisco |
Stop complaining over trivial stuff |
Jimmy Fallon Show |
|
|
Rudy Francisco |
Gun violence, toxic masculinity |
Jimmy Fallon Show |
|
|
Rudy Francisco |
Police brutality / racism |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Phil Kaye |
Effects of divorce on kid |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Phil Kaye |
Childhood nostalgia |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Phil Kaye |
Politics / race relations |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Clint Smith |
Racial hatred / fear for the ones you love |
TED Talk |
|
|
Jose Olivarez |
Being isolated for being Mexican |
LTAB |
|
|
Jose Olivarez |
Love poem |
The Firehouse Space, Brooklyn NY |
|
|
Idris Goodwin |
Names / microaggressions |
BreakBeat Spoken Word |
|
|
Sy Stokes |
Racial inequality on campus |
UCLA / personal video |
|
|
Sekou “Tha Misfit” Andrews |
Aspirations / dreams |
Stage performance |
|
|
Melissa, Zaria, Rhiannon |
Social commentary on America / school |
Queen Latifah Show / Get Lit |
|
|
Sabrina Benaim |
Depression |
National Poetry Slam 2014 |
|
|
Sabrina Benaim |
Love / relationships |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Prince EA |
Race |
Personal video |
|
|
Prince EA |
Overuse and reliance on technology |
Personal video |
|
|
Sierra DeMulder |
Inspirational / anti depression |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Suli Breaks |
What our friends say about us |
Personal video |
|
|
Suli Breaks |
Misunderstood millennials |
TED talk |
|
|
Suli Breaks |
Learning / education |
Personal video |
|
|
Alex Dang |
Racial stereotypes |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Lemon Anderson |
The lengths we go to for style |
TED Talk |
|
|
Daniel Beaty |
Incarcerated fathers |
VICE News / The American Justice Summit |
|
|
Rachel Wiley |
For Fat Girls Who Considered Starvation When Bulimia Wasn’t Enough |
Eating disorders / body image |
Button Poetry |
|
Rachel Wiley |
Body image / self love |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Melissa Lozada-Olivia |
Toxic masculinity / white male privilege |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Steve Connell |
What it takes to excel |
Farmers Insurance commercial |
|
|
Clementine Von Radics |
Women’s empowerment |
Soap Box Poetry Slam |
|
|
Savannah Brown |
Tribute / ode |
Personal video |
|
|
Xero Skidmore |
Tribute / ode |
Personal video |
|
|
Bianca Phipps |
Racism / gun violence |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Dominique Christina & Denice Frohman |
Social commentary on education |
Button Poetry / Boulder, CO |
|
|
Denice Frohman |
Family / language |
Nuyorican Poets Cafe performance |
|
|
Shane Koyczan |
Bullying |
Animated video |
|
|
David Bowden |
Divided and/or disengaged society |
College student’s final project |
|
|
Mike Rosen |
9/11 – God |
NYC Urbana Slam / Bowery Poetry Club |
|
|
Malcolm Landon |
Systemic problems in education |
TED talk |
|
|
Hanif Abdurraquib |
Gender roles/expectations / friendship |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Hanif Abdurraquib |
Finding inner strength |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Hanif Abdurraquib |
When I say that Loving Me is Kind of Like Being a Chicago Bulls Fan |
Self awareness / explaining ourselves to someone |
Button Poetry |
|
Hanif Abdurraquib |
Accepting yourself when others don’t |
Button Poetry Live |
|
|
Blythe Baird |
Eating disorder / recovery |
National Poetry Slam 2015 |
|
|
Blythe Baird |
Eating disorder / recovery |
Button Poetry |
|
|
Elizabeth Acevedo |
Women empowerment / writing |
PBS News Hour |
|
|
Mahogany L Brown |
Self love / Black girls |
PBS News Hour |
|
|
Rebeca Mae |
Hiccups / losing someone |
National Poetry Slam 2015 |
|
|
Emi Mahmoud |
War / genocide |
WOWPS 2016 |
|
|
Carlos Andres Gomez |
Fatherhood / Raising a daughter / Stereotypes |
Nuyorican Poets Café performance |
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Hola! I’ve been reading your blog for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent work!
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I was inspired by the episode on the Spark Creativity podcast featuring this website. I would love to incorporate at least one living poet monthly with my 7 & 8 grades. What poems/poets fit this bill? I don’t have endless minutes to search through the content.
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I would suggest starting with Clint Smith, Jose Olivarez, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
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