Poetry in Motion provides a platform for performative text and spoken word. We welcome previously UNPUBLISHED VIDEO RECORDINGS of original works by emerging and experienced artists from anywhere in the world. (Please note: if your video has appeared on an online public platform such as YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook, it is considered previously published and is not eligible for submission to Poetry in Motion.)
Spoken Word is often ephemeral, live, hard to define, and is written for the body as much as for the mind. It yearns to be seen or heard not read, to be caught in the act dead or alive, and to experiment with repetition, rhythm and rhyme. It’s words are about sound meeting air and the thrill of the fall.
For this project, we’re seeking submissions by anyone not willing to submit to the limits of the spoken word form: spoken word artists, performance and sound poets, video-poets, hip hop emcees, two-line bandits and anyone who talks the walk across the wide narrow bridge that is poetry slam.
What we’re looking for:
- Spoken Word
- Performance Poetry
- Sound Poetry
- Slam Poetry
- Signed Poetry
- Hip Hop
- Prose Monologues
- Video Poetry
Video can range from quality live performance clips shot on your phone in the second round of your local slam to professionally shot pre-recorded performative abstractions. We prefer videos to be shot in landscape rather than portrait mode, unless the orientation is integral to the work. Submissions may be in any language including Sign Language, but videos which aren’t in English must be accompanied by either subtitles or a poetry transcript.
Note: if applicable to the work, we encourage you to submit the accompanying poetic text for us to consider along with your video. Please provide this as a Word Doc file.
For examples of work we’ve published on Poetry in Motion, visit our Vault.