Poetry-linc : poetry slam

'Poet-Linc: poetry slam' is the unique documentation of a contest created to celebrate an untapped pool of talented young artists from New York, composing their original poetry around a central theme: "I have a voice".

Collated with the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts the world's leading presenter of artistic programming and a national leader in arts education and community relations and non-profit organisations from each of the city's five boroughs, the season's initiative centred around a rationale of assisted teaching of participants via professional guidance, to help each of these new "slam poets" find their own individual voice.

The project looks to simultaneously alter the perception of the Center as a Manhattan-centric institution, highlighting a pluralistic and accessible approach to its work through collaboration with progressive community organisations such as Curtis High School, El Puente, Girls Write Now, Global Writes, SAYA! (South Asian Youth Actions) and Urban Word. Divided into three thematically diverse rounds Declarative Poem, Narrative Poem and Free Verse/Free Style over an intensive six-week period, the competition comprised a fierce series of 'battles' between the separate community organisations involved, each competing for just two spots in the Grand Slam Final. 'Poet-Linc: poetry slam' contains over 100 poems from the stars of the series, alongside work from established world names such as Darian Dauchan, Erik Maldonado and Shanelle Gabriel, as well as critical essays on the medium and the season.

The poems themselves portray a varied and illuminating survey into the attuned teenage mind, exploring and often inverting themes of race, love, lust, family and class in the playful, sardonic and relentless ebb and flow of the poetry slam itself. ILLUSTRATIONS: 40 colour and b/w illustrations