What is Performance Poetry?

My name is Francesca Beard. I am a performance poet. For me, it's the best job in the world - it's more than a job, it's my life. What I love most about performance poetry is this...

Today it's me on stage, performing poems that describe my life. I look out at the audience, at a sea of faces I do not know but am connected with and I feel that tomorrow, it could be her or him or you up here on stage, talking to me in the crowd. Tomorrow, it will be you, sharing your poetry and your life with all of us. We are all so different in our individual selves and in our world cultures and yet, in a poetry performance, we can come together and share the same emotional truths, the same jokes, the same life-changing moment.
 

I'm going to try and give you a useful introduction to becoming a performance poet. One day I hope we'll be sharing the stage together.

Performance poetry is all about the unique 'voice' of the poet. When we meet a talented poet, we don't feel threatened, we feel glad and want to support them. The more of us there are, the better! I'm hoping that you'll find supportive relationships with similar up-and-coming poets through this website. Please check out some of the my fellow friends and poets - they are all very different and they all represent what's great about Performance Poetry.

So what is Performance Poetry?

Simply put, Performance Poetry is any poem that has been written specifically for an audience. It is sometimes called Spoken Word or Live Literature because not every piece that a poet performs is necessarily pure poetry.

(Here's why)

As a performance poet, you have a duty to hold your audience's attention. You do this by entertaining them and keeping them on their toes. Therefore, you might want to use a variety of techniques and forms. The brilliant thing about performance poetry is that it is so flexible - you can borrow from other art forms, for example, music, comedy and drama.

It's the most amazing art form because you don't need money (or all the things that money buys, like training, tools, equipment and technical support) to do it and yet, good performance poetry has the power to change people's lives.

There are three elements essential to Performance Poetry:

You (the Performer)

The Poem 

The Audience

©  Francesca Beard