“No, no, you ain’t hearin’ me.” Spoken with a combination of poise, attitude, and soul, these are the words of Natasha, a participant in the 11th annual “Louder than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival.” As she performed her poem in front of a small, yet vibrant audience, she was finally heard.Between Feb. 19 and March 12, over 650 high school students will get the chance to dabble in the art of poetry and spoken word. Like Natasha, they will get the chance to be heard.
“Louder than a Bomb” is officially a competition, but it is more accurately described as a celebration of creativity through poetry, storytelling, and spoken word performances.
During the bout eight competition on Saturday, Feb. 26, every contestant, regardless of team affiliation, received snaps, applause, and even enthusiastic whoops from all audience members.
When one contestant paused, trying to remember her next line, the other contestants in the audience snapped and offered words of encouragement. The atmosphere buzzed with positive energy, despite the unsteady nerves some of the contestants must have felt.
Although the competition aspect can seem to be simply a formality, the young poets are still eager to hear how the judges felt about their poetry. They crave praise and recognition for their work as well as acceptance of their deepest feelings and the messages engrained in their words.
Students can compete in a team or as individuals. This year, there are 70 teams of burgeoning young poets. The contestants come from all over Chicago and surrounding cities and suburbs, and represent all races and social classes. The differences in the participants’ backgrounds is both distinguished and blurred in the poetry.
The circumstances behind the poetry seem to be obviously different for every contestant, but the emotions and the passion for expression makes it exceedingly difficult to discern the poets’ backgrounds. The atmosphere and “community feel” fosters a commonality among all the different students.
There are different events for different types of poetry and spoken word, but they are all performances that evoke an emotional response in the audience. Some of the events that have already taken place include a ‘haiku slam’ and a ‘duo slam.’ The students could also attend various workshops to hone their talent and find their inspiration.
In the competition that I watched, most of the participants seemed to draw their inspiration from a person. Fifteen year old Meredith from Naperville North High School spoke sweetly of her grandfather, and 17-year-old Charlie spoke with a message of empowerment about influential African-American men. The mood of each poem was different, yet they were both powerful and touching.
Poetry is not about following the rules, being correct or knowing everything. It transcends mundane details and reaches out to the emotional and even the spiritual. How fitting then that the conditioned audience response to the emcee’s sarcastic and dry information about the founder of “Louder than a Bomb” and the year it was founded was “So what!” and “Ehh.” and “Who cares?”
The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival is about the poets and empowerment. When the young poet is passionately reciting her work of art, all attention is focused on her. And she is finally heard.
The semi-finals begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 7 at the Steppenwolf Theater. The individual finals take place on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, and the team finals take place on Saturday, March 12 at 6 p.m. at the Vic Theater.
For more information about the “Louder than a Bomb” festival, visit youngchicagoauthors.org.