<div> Inception and implosion, Chicago's grit and grandiosity all come together in the finite poetic power of the original Slam igniter, renowned poet Marc Kelly Smith and his retrospect denotation, Ground Zero.&nbsp; A cultural, community, and adversarial figure, Smith has challenged the status quo and raised new questions about an environment in a state of continuous calamity. Smith's power and influence have inspired celebrated figures who cut their teeth on both the stage and the page under his watchful eye--always speaking in the traditions of Carl Sandburg and Gwendolyn Brooks. Ground Zero challenges but pays homage to the thousand underbellies of Chicago with Smith's wicked, cigarette-in-the-beer language: "I ain't diggin' no concrete coffin, / No backyard mausoleum&nbsp;/ To keep me a pickle sweet aplenty / Plied with sardines and pork sausage wieners / Livin' out the chance that some bubble-flesh victim&nbsp;/ Will come puckered up and scabby lipped / To kiss me in the name of a new mankind." Ground Zero leaves no doubt. The Slampapi / instigator / visionary / you-may-love-me-or-hate-me-but-my-history-will-always-be-chiseled-in-everything-the-poetry-world-does-next collects a survey of his land and his experience, no matter how beautiful or flawed. This book lets the landmines of imagery and Chicago's slow and uneasy drawl showcase one of our most original voices. </div>

Ground Zero: A Collection of Chicago Poems

Literature & Fiction

Smith, Marc Kelly

Poetry

TriQuarterly

Crowdpleaser

Collage Press

This non-fiction reference work collects the interviews and submissions of fiction and non-fiction writers who discuss the impact of libraries on their career development. Numerous transcripts, photos, biographies, library quotations, footnotes, a glossary, and an index present the information as a teaching tool for the reader. The contributors cross gender, race, political, philosophical, cultural, subject, and genre lines. Each had something significant to share about the importance of the library to the writer.Writer in the Library has been added to many fine collections such as Ames Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Drake University, Grand View University, Illinois State Library, Los Angeles Public Library, University of Chicago, Iowa State University, Loras College, Allen Public Library, University of Iowa, University of Nevada, University of Northern Iowa Library, West Des Moines Public Library, Winterset Public Library, Woodward Public Library, Xavier University of Louisiana, etc.

Writer in the Library: 41 Writers Reveal How They Use Libraries to Develop Their Skill, Craft & Careers

Reference

FOGLIO, PHIL

Carman, Patrick

NANCE, John

McQueen, Lee

Ormon, Roscoe

Lansana, Qurayshi Ali

Rivera, Louis Reyes

Diamond, Lydia

Jance,J.A.

Words, Language & Grammar

McQueen Press

Get in on the action...CD included! According to the PBS television series The United States of Poetry, a "strand of new poetry began at Chicago's Green Mill Tavern in 1986 when Marc Smith found a home for the Poetry Slam." Since then, performance poetry has spread throughout the United States. Now, the father of the poetry slam presents the most comprehensive book on spoken-word poetry performances.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Slam Poetry

Kraynak, Joe.

Alpha

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Books by Smith, Marc Kelly