Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution [Paperback]

Alix Olson (Editor), Eve Ensler (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2007

Female spoken word artists have become the spokeswomen for a new generation. This demanding oral poetry of the early 21st century has defined a vanguard of lithely muscled voices; women who think and act decisively to create their distinctive and desperately earned realities. The combination of the eminent slam movement and the upsurge of bold underground feminism has created a unique pool of women who verbally challenge society on all fronts.

Editor Alix Olson (internationally touring spoken word artist-activist) brought together a variety of astounding spoken word artists for Word Warriors. Included in this collection are Patricia Smith and Eileen Myles, two of our most formidable spoken-word foremothers, Tony-award winners Sarah Jones, Suheir Hammad and Staceyann Chin, recording artists Bitch and Lynn Breedlove from the dyke-punk band Tribe 8, award-winning writer Michelle Tea, and many more. These women join other amazing artists from many different backgrounds to create Word Warriors, a powerful and comprehensive collection of work from the best and brightest female spoken word artists today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (October 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580052215
• ISBN-13: 978-1580052214
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rock Concert on the Page, November 29, 2007

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dolores (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution (Paperback)

I wish that the poets had released a cd with this book to show the aurel beauty that each poet brings to her work. Last night I attended a reading in San Francisco, and I expected it to be good, however each of the women reading astonished me with her honesty, humor, anger, compassion...Each of these women has worked for years to arrive at the synthesis of grace and fire that more ordinary mortals scribbling in their diaries might only aspire toward.

In the Q&A session afterwards, the poets spoke about traveling to small towns in the midwest while touring with spoken word poets, and how in tucked away places of the "red" map, like Wyoming, young girls would drive more than six hours and stay in a hotel in town to see them.

In The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America Susan Faludi argues that masculinism and jingoism have silenced many of the feminists in culture, yet this collection highlights people who have been anything but quiet. They've manned the frontlines, articulately, intricately, loudly, boldly, and each should get credit for her contribution to national morale during this first bleak decade of the twenty-first century.

To anyone interested in this work, the Feminist Press publishing this book is currently eliminating staff and struggling to stay alive, so I encourage anyone desiring evidence of the lyric beauty and inexorable heart drumbeat of the revolution to buy this collection....now!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Collection!, November 6, 2007

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Molly Stephens (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution (Paperback)

Word Warriors is a beautiful and comprehensive collection. I am currently using it in my Freshman comp. class and the students are responding to the poetry with delight and enthusiasm!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering, Motivating, and just frankly Amazing, September 25, 2010

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Courtney - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution (Paperback)

Having an entire anthology of powerful, succesful, and on-fire women's poetry is an absolute gift. I could not put it down. At the beginning of each poet's section, there is an essay written by her about her life behind the microphone. Each of those essay's were amazing. To be able to hear how "ordinary" women, decided to take the stage, and start sharing their poetry with audiences; how that decision launched a journey, and where that journey led them, was simply inspiring. I am not a poet, I had not heard of most of the poets before I bought this book, but I am so glad I did. The women in this book are truly warriors, and inspired me to get up and start to join them.