The Original Uptown Poetry Slam

Although the term “poetry slam” has reached heightened levels of ubiquity, its origins are far from being murky or long-forgotten. Every Sunday night at the Green Mill in Chicago, founder Marc Kelly Smith and co-host J.W. Basilo, hold court at the birthplace of the poetry slam movement, carrying on the raucous, interactive show Smith originally brought to life more than a quarter of a century ago. With offshoots that now span the globe and a movement that made a form of poetry a household phrase, it’s well worth a visit to see where it all began and where it all continues.




Steve Delahoyde