Mission Statement

SPEAKOUT! POETRY COLLECTIVE

2008 Worcester Youth Slam Team on the way back from DC!

The Speakout! Poetry Collective has spent the last six years mentoring youth poets & promoting the power of one’s voice through the art of spoken word. Every year, our collective organizes youth poetry slams, raises funds, & chaperones several competition winners to The Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival, sponsored by the nationally recognized San Francisco based non-profit corporation Youth Speaks.

Poetry Slam is the “competitive art of performance poetry.” Poets perform original work of their own creation without the aid of props, costumes or musical accompaniment. They have 3 minutes & 30 seconds in which to do so. After each poem, poets receive scores from judges, chosen randomly from the audience. Points are awarded, winners are chosen over the course of several qualifying competitions throughout the season.

Poetry Slam promotes literacy by animating the power of words & inspiring writers to seek an immediate connection with their audience. It promotes diversity by being open to people from all backgrounds, interests and writing experience. And perhaps most importantly, it promotes community, by placing more focus on listening & respecting each others work, rather than the arbitrary scores that drive the competition which is, in essence a gimmick, created to draw an audience.

Aside from running the poetry slam series, the Speakout! Collective also facillitates a weekly writing & performance workshop for area teens looking to learn more about slam. Speakout! Also organizes and performance demonstration poetry slams for public libraries and high schools. In this day & age when schools have less financial resources and time to develop new avenues for kids to explore their artistic sides, we are dedicating our time to promote this new art form because of what it has meant to our own personal development and sense of community.