In Defence of Slams

At the question and answer session after a Michael Horovitz gig on Friday I asked him what he thought were the differences between the live poetry scene of the ‘50s and ‘60s and the scene now. It will not surprise anyone who knows him to hear that his answer was quite long and rambling  and enjoyable. He said the scene of the ‘60s was part of a general democratic movement and that some of those poems actually precipitated various protests and movements. Now, he said, not enough young poets are dealing with the political issue of wealth/class inequality and that there are these ‘dreadful’ things called ‘slams’, which perpetuate, instead of challenging, hierarchies, making it seem like it’s all about being the best.