Marc Smith

Marc Smith is best known for bringing to the world-wide poetry community a new style of presentation, which has spawned a literary movement. As stated in the PBS television series, The United States of Poetry, a "strand of new poetry began at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern in 1987 when Marc Smith found a home for the Poetry Slam." Since then performance poetry has spread throughout the country, including more than 100 American cities that host their own Slam performances. Each year, teams from these cities compete in the National Poetry Slam, an extravagant festival blending thousands of poetic voices. Not surprisingly, the Slam has taken root internationally and includes on-going performances in England, Israel, Germany and Sweden.