Poetry

A slam itself is simply a poetry competition in which poets perform original work alone or in teams before an audience, which serves as judge. The work is judged as much on the manner and enthusiasm of its performance as its content or style, and many slam poems are not intended to be read silently from the page. The structure of the traditional slam was started by construction worker and poet Marc Smith in 1986 at a reading series in a Chicago jazz club.

https://www.nuyorican.org/ Over the last 40 years, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe has served as a home for groundbreaking works of poetry, music, theater and visual arts. A multicultural and multi-arts institution, the Cafe gives voice to a diverse group of rising poets, actors, filmmakers and musicians. The Cafe champions the use of poetry, jazz, theater, hip-hop and spoken word as means of social empowerment for minority and underprivileged artists.

https://poets.org/ This is the website of the Academy of American Poets and American Poets Magazine. They have a collection of over 10,000 searchable poems.

https://www.pw.org/ Poets & Writers magazine is not free, however, student poets will be interested in the “Writing Contests, Grants & Awards” section that lists contests where they can submit their poems.

https://powerpoetry.org/ This is an world-wide online poetry community for youth. It is a place that encourages young people to use poetry to express themselves and “change the world.” Under RESOURCES, they have Poetry Tips, Poetry Terms, and a section for Teachers.