Editorial

Is there a "Spoken Word Revolution"? To say it is a revolution would imply that it is an attempted coup. Spoken Word poetry does not propose to take over the poetry world, but rather to become another vehicle for poetic expression.

All things evolve over time and this is no truer for art than anything else. Painting has experienced huge changes over the millennia, through the Renaissance period to Modernism, Expressionism, Dadaism, Pop Art and the emergence of Street Art. The changes are endless and art continues to evolve. Music likewise not only changes from generation to generation but within generations and cultures.

Poetry, as an art form, is no different. So couldn't we say that this is actually the "Spoken Word Evolution"? Over the centuries poetry has seen many changes and acceptance of different styles and forms. But from where did poetry evolve? Perhaps from tribal elders who related tales of genealogy and past heroic deeds, or from the great orators of the ancient world, including Homer, Cicero, Virgil, who entertained emperors and rulers.

Before there was the written word, there was poetry in its oral spoken tradition. As the modern movement cycles back to these original story tellers and poets, I would like to introduce a new term to describe the Spoken Word movement, the "Spoken Word Re-evolution".

Lonnard Dean Watkins