Staff Picks

Erin’s Pick

At the Brave New Voices festival in Philadelphia, two women courageously presented their powerful spoken-word piece, “Hir.” The two women stepped on stage and entwined their hands—for support and an all-too-chilling representation of feeling you are two people at once. They spoke softly at first, but the poem quickly escalated to shouting, and the two women had a look of fear and desperation in their eyes when “Hir” reached its climax. By the time the poem ends, the two voices, Mellissa and James, have told their story so vividly that we cannot help but feel their pain. Mellissa “doesn’t paint her face because her whole body is painted on.” Nobody even notices James. Check out this beautiful video, which has inspired me to work on some of my own spoken-word pieces!

Jena’s Pick

Who knew Henry Rollins would team up with William Shatner? And that they would be Muppets? And that there would be a Colonel Sanders MC . . . ?

I love rants. I love when people finally get their panties in a twist and tee off about all that ails the world. They are passionate and really get to the truth of the matter, because most people who rant simply don’t give a hoot about decorum anymore. Henry Rollins is known for being an outspoken, spoken-word artist but this is something new for William Shatner (of Star Trek fame). This is a great, refreshing spoken-word rant that I can really get behind. Can you?