Smith Slams The State Of, Um, Slams

By Melissa Feldsher in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 3, 2009 6:40PM

Image courtesy of Swanksalot

Combining rhythm and realism, Smith founded the slam poetry movement at the Green Mill Tavern circa 1986. From an origin steeped in subversion, the slam poetry movement evolved into decidedly more mainstream venues, like an HBO documentary and into the halls of the West Wing.

“At the beginning, this was really a grass-roots thing about people who were writing poetry for years and years and years and had no audience. Now there’s an audience, and people just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV,” said Smith.

Visit the Green Mill's weekly Sunday poetry slams and judge for yourself if Smith is on point or not.