What It's Like to Perform Spoken Word Poetry

Anthony Febo--AKA "Febo"--brings poetry to life as a spoken word artist. He describes spoken word poetry as "poetry written with the intention to perform"--and his performances are deeply personal, emotional, and rich, with touches of signature humor. (He performs two amazing pieces in this episode.) Febo is not only an artist; he is also a teacher--so listeners get to be students, learning how to write and perform spoken word poems.  Febo encourages his students to end their poems with hope--he always seeks to choose joy in the face of what is trying to break you.

There are also fun tidbits about Lin Manuel Miranda (Febo is a huge fan), rap, hip hop, and much more.  

Poetry has never been so much fun. 

In this episode:

• When he started writing in 7th grade (02:42)
• Febo's definition of spoken word poetry (05:01)
• Intersections among hip hop, rap, and spoken word (07:14)
• Febo performs one poem, "Tonight I'm Cooking" (10:27)
• Themes in his work (13:33) 
• His process of working--and how/why it evolves (17:26)
• Febo's experience of performing on-stage (20:47)
• What teenagers learn from writing and performing (25:44)
• Writing a spoken word poem (32:20)
• Febo performs a second poem, "Luna's First Birthday Party" (38:42)

Want to know more about Febo?

• Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adobofishsauce/ and https://www.instagram.com/thisisfebo/
• Find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anthony.febo/
• Tweet him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisisfebo  (note: Febo's Diaper Haikus are posted on his Twitter account!)

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