Get Lit—Words Ignite: Explore, Write and Perform Classic and Spoken Word Poetry

The Get Lit organization of Los Angeles has long seemed to be one of the center points for spoken word poetry experience as well as writing. And here is the handbook, people. In this rich tome of poems, prompts, presentation suggestions, rubrics, helpful hints, stories, and questions, a passionate poet or poetry presenter may find all the guidance needed. Former US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera wrote a gorgeous foreword in which he says, “every chapter is a well-carved map of readings, reflections, notations, poets, lines, and wild experimentation.” He recalls the time he asked poet Marie Ponsot why she had said, “The poem I am about to read is an experiment.” She replied, “Juan Felipe, if you are not experimenting, you are not writing a poem!” Bring your highlighter to these pages; you will definitely want to mark favorite passages or suggestions. Editors Lane and Thomas have included poems by so many beloved poets—W.B. Yeats, Kaveh Akbar, Franny Choi—as well as so many new ones. For those of you who keep asking what to do when having trouble writing at all, I’d say pick up a book like this. It’s as full and far-reaching as our lives are. Just do what it suggests for a few hours, or minutes, and you’ll be back on track—even privately, without an audience to listen. Be the poet, be the audience. This book helps you be everything.