The following is a partial list of performance poets.

Africa

Nigeria

Eva Alordiah Elohor Eva Alordiah (born 13 August 1989), better known as Eva Alordiah or simply Eva, is a Nigerian rapper, entertainer, make-up artist, fashion designer and entrepreneur. She is considered one of the best female rappers in Nigeria. Since her ...

South Africa

* Phillippa Yaa de Villiers * Lebogang Mashile * Isabella Motadinyane *

Lesego Rampolokeng Lesego Rampolokeng (born 7 July 1965) is a South African writer, playwright and performance poet. Early life and education Lesego Rampolokeng was born in 1965 in Orlando West, Soweto, Johannesburg. He studied law at the University of the North ...

North America

Canada

Lillian Allen Lillian Allen (born 5 April 1951) is a Canadian dub poet, reggae musician, writer and Juno Award winner. Biography Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, she left that country in 1969, first moving to New York City, where she studied English at the Ci ...

Afua Cooper Afua Cooper (born 8 November 1957) is a Jamaican-born Canadian historian. In 2018 she is an associate professor of sociology at Dalhousie University. She is an author and dub poet. As of 2018 she has published five volumes of poetry.

Shane Koyczan Shane L. Koyczan , born 22 May 1976, is a Canadian spoken word poet, writer, and member of the group Tons of Fun University. He is known for writing about issues like bullying, cancer, death, and eating disorders. He is most famous for the ant ...

* Brendan McLeod * Susan McMaster * Chris Tse * Mustafa the Poet *

Dwayne Morgan Dwayne Morgan is a Canadian spoken word artist, motivational speaker and event organizer based in Toronto, Ontario. Morgan began his career as a spoken word artist in 1993. He is the founder of Up From The Roots Entertainment, which was estab ...

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (born April 21, 1975, in Worcester, Massachusetts) is a U.S. /Canadian poet, writer, educator and social activist. Their writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of ...

Sheri-D Wilson Sheri-D Wilson, CM D. Litt, (aka "The Mama of Dada") is a Canadian poet, spoken word artist, educator, speaker, producer and activist. From 2018-2020, Sheri-D Wilson was Poet Laureate of Calgary. In 2019 Sheri-D was appointed one of the country� ...

* Kaie Kellough *

Boonaa Mohammed Boonaa Mohammed (born April 14, 1987) is a Canadian spoken-word poet and writer of Oromo people, Oromo descent. Early life Mohammed is a second generation Ethiopian immigrant of Oromo people, Oromo ancestry. His Parents came to Canada as politic ...

United States

A-E * Taalam Acey *

Alurista Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia (born August 8, 1947), better known by his nom de plume Alurista, is a Chicano poet and activist. Early life and education Urista was born in Mexico City and attended primary school in Morelos. He went to the Unit ...

David Antin David Abram Antin (February 1, 1932 – October 11, 2016) was an American poet, critic and performance artist. Education and early career Antin was born in New York City in 1932. After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, he earned h ...

* Craig Arnold *

Robert Ashley Robert Reynolds Ashley (March 28, 1930 – March 3, 2014) was an American composer, who was best known for his television operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. His works often involve i ...

* Amiri Baraka * John M. Bennett *

Buddy Wakefield Kenneth Zane Beasley III (born June 4, 1974), known as Buddy Wakefield, is an American spoken word artist, a three-time poetry slam world champion, and the most toured performance poet in history. His works have been released by Strange Famous Re ...

Big Poppa E Big Poppa E is an American performer of slam poetry. His live performances combine poetry, stand-up comedy, and dramatic monologue. Performance poetry He participated in the 10th Annual Poetry Slam in Chicago as part of the San Francisco team. ...

Nicole Blackman Nicole Blackman (born November 30, 1971) is a New York City–born performance artist, poet, author, and vocalist. Literary career Blackman is involved in the North American goth, spoken word, and transgressive literature scenes. Blackman sel ...

Brother Dash Brother Dash (born Dasham K. Brookins; December 3, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American Muslim spoken word artist, essayist and photographer. Career Brother Dash has performed and spoken at innumerable venues for both Musl ...

* Derrick Brown *

B. Dolan Bernard Dolan (born March 8, 1981) is an American rapper, spoken word artist, activist, screenwriter, and composer based in Providence, Rhode Island.Strange Famous RecordB. Dolan Biography/ref> History B. Dolan's first performances took place ...

Roger Bonair-Agard Roger Bonair-Agard is a poet and performance artist. He has made numerous television and radio appearances, has led countless workshops and lectures, and has performed his poetry at many US universities as well as at international festivals in Ger ...

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

Clint Catalyst Clint Catalyst (born April 8, 1971) is the nom de plumeRichard Cambridge *

Staceyann Chin Staceyann Chin (born December 25, 1972) is a spoken-word poet, performing artist and LGBT rights political activist. Her work has been published in ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and the ''Pittsburgh Daily'', and has been featu ...

Jim Cohn Jim Cohn is a poet, poetry activist, and spoken word artist in the United States. He was born in Highland Park, Illinois, in 1953. Early poetics and musical influences include Bob Dylan, the subject of a now lost audiotaped for a class project co ...

Allison Hedge Coke Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American poet and editor. Her debut book, ''Dog Road Woman'', won the American Book Award and was the first finalist of the Paterson Poetry Prize and Diane DeCora Award. Since then, she has written five more books ...

Jamie DeWolf Jamie DeWolf (born October 28, 1977) is an American Poetry slam, slam poet, film director, writer, spoken word artist, and circus ringmaster from Oakland, California. DeWolf is best known for his early career as a slam poetry champion, his award ...

Maggie Estep Margaret Ann "Maggie" Estep (March 20, 1963 – February 12, 2014) was an American writer and poet, best known for coming to prominence during the height of the spoken word and poetry slam performance rage. She published seven books and rel ...

F-J * Karen Finley * Shaggy Flores *

Kip Fulbeck Lawrence Keith "Kip" Fulbeck is an American artist, spoken word performer, filmmaker and author. Fulbeck's work explores identity politics. His mixed race ethnic background is English, Welsh, Irish and Cantonese. He is best known for his work a ...

Andrea Gibson Andrea Gibson (born August 13, 1975) is an American poet and activist from Calais, Maine, who has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 1999. Gibson's poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, social reform, and LGBTQ topics. Personal life Gibson ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

John Giorno John Giorno (December 4, 1936 – October 11, 2019) was an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, inc ...

* Jesse Glass * Gary Glazner *

Guillermo Gómez-Peña Guillermo Gómez-Peña is a Mexican/Chicano performance artist, writer, activist, and educator. Gómez-Peña has created work in multiple media, including performance art, experimental radio, video, photography and installation art. His fifteen b ...

Roxy Gordon Roxy Lee Gordon (March 7, 1945 – February 7, 2000) was an American poet, novelist, musician, multimedia artist, and activist. Described as a "progressive country witness and outlaw poet," Gordon often used spoken vocals accompanied by music ...

Hedwig Gorski Hedwig Irene Gorski (born July 18, 1949) is an American performance poet and an avant-garde artist who labels her aesthetic as "American futurism." The term "performance poetry," a precursor to slam poetry, is attributed to her. It originate ...

* John S. Hall *

John Agard John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949 in British Guiana) is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children's writer, now living in Britain. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Suheir Hammad Suheir Hammad (born October 25, 1973) is an American poet, author, actress, performer, and political activist. Biography She was born in Amman, Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, N ...

Matt Harvey Matthew Edward Harvey (born March 27, 1989), nicknamed The Dark Knight, is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, ...

Bradley Hathaway Bradley Hathaway (February 13, 1982) is an American spoken word poet, singer and songwriter from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Biography Bradley Hathaway was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas and lived there until 1997, when he moved to Alma, Arkansas, where h ...

* M. Ayodele Heath * Neil Hilborn *

Jackie Hill-Perry Jackie Hill Perry (née Jackie Hill, born June 21, 1989) is an American poet, writer, and hip hop artist who initially garnered popularity for her performances of spoken word pieces such as "My Life as a Stud", "A Poem About Weed", and "Jig-a- ...

Bob Holman Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author ...

Detrick Hughes Detrick Oliver Hughes (born 1966) is an American poet and spoken-word artist. Hughes is known for urban commentary and life expressions offered via the genre of poetry. His latest book ''Unsuitable for Fools'' was published April 21, 2020 by Nebo ...

* J. Ivy * David Jewell K-P * Sarah Kay * Kealoha *

Nomy Lamm Naomi Elizabeth "Nomy" Lamm (born September 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and political activist. Lamm has described herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee." Her left foot was amputated at age three, to be fitted with a l ...

* Erika Renee Land *

The Last Poets The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who bel ...

Al Letson Al Letson (born August 8, 1972) is an American writer, journalist, and radio and podcast host. Since 2013, he has served as the host of the radio show and podcast '' Reveal'' from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. Before that, he cr ...

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

* Taylor Mali * Jeffrey McDaniel *

Mighty Mike McGee Michael Matthew McGee (born January 12, 1976), more commonly known as Mighty Mike McGee, is an American slam poet. Biography McGee is the oldest of eight children from several marriages. He has spent most of his life in and around San Jo ...

* Karyna McGlynn * Douglas A. Martin *

Kevin Max Kevin Max Smith (born August 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He is best known for being a member of the Christian pop group dc Talk. As a solo artist following the band going on hiatus, he has recorded 12 full-length stud ...

* Lenelle Moïse *

Anis Mojgani Anis Mojgani ( Persian: انیس مژگانی) (born June 13, 1977) is an American spoken word poet, visual artist and musician based in Portland, Oregon. Mojgani has been characterized as a "geek genius" with "fiercely hopeful word arias." Ea ...

José Montoya José Montoya (May 28, 1932 – September 25, 2013) was a poet and an artist from Sacramento, California. He was one of the most influential Chicano bilingual poets. He has published many well-known poems in anthologies and magazines, and serve ...

Jessica Care Moore Jessica Care Moore (born October 28, 1971) is an American poet. She is the CEO of Moore Black Press, executive producer of BLACK WOMEN ROCK!, and founder of the literacy-driven jess Care moore Foundation. An internationally renowned poet, playwri ...

* Alix Olson * Robert Peters * Jason Petty * Lynne Procope R-Z * John Rives *

Ursula Rucker Ursula Rucker is an American spoken word recording artist. Rucker is known for a diverse repertoire, and for using techniques that catch her listeners' attention. Biography Rucker was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she wa ...

Carl Hancock Rux Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, journalist, curator and conceptual installation artist working in text, dance, ritualized performance, audio, video, and photography. Described in the NY T ...

Michael Salinger Michael Salinger (born March 2, 1962) is an American poet, performer, and educator living in Northeast Ohio. He is one of the earliest participants in the National Poetry Slam, former board member oforganization's summer writing and performance ...

Bryan Lewis Saunders Bryan Lewis Saunders (born 1969, in Washington, D.C.) is an endurance artist, a performance artist, videographer, performance poet, and self-portrait painter known for his disturbing spoken word rants, tragic art performances and stand-up trag ...

* Jill Scott * Gil Scott-Heron *

Beau Sia Beau Sia (, born 1976) is an American Poetry slam, slam poet. Life and career Sia was born in Ohio. He is of Chinese-Filipino descent. Raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sia discovered spoken word poetry on MTV as a teenager. When not particip ...

Otep Shamaya Otep Shamaya is an American singer and rapper, best known as the lead vocalist and founder of the eponymous metal band Otep. Career Shamaya made her debut in 2000 with her band OTEP, and released the full-length albums '' Sevas Tra'' (June 20 ...

* Marc Smith * Patricia Smith *

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

* Rod Smith *

Sekou Sundiata Sekou Sundiata (August 22, 1948 – July 18, 2007) was an African-American poet and performer, as well as a teacher at The New School in New York City. Famous students include musicians Ani DiFranco and Mike Doughty. His plays include ''The ...

Taco Shop Poets Taco Shop Poets is the name of a poetry and spoken word collective formed in 1994 at a Poetry Series, Taco Shop Poetry, hosted by Adolfo Guzman-Lopez at the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park, San Diego. It grew to a collective of over ...

Quincy Troupe Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr. (born July 22, 1939) is an American poet, editor, journalist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California. He is best known as the biographer of Miles Davis, the jazz music ...

* George Watsky *

Anne Waldman Anne Waldman (born April 2, 1945) is an American poet. Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activ ...

* Saul Williams

Europe

France

* Léo Ferré

Italy

Massimo Volume Massimo Volume is an Italian rock group formed in Bologna in 1992. They sing in Italian and the singer is well known for his poetic spoken-word style. Their musical style may be described as being akin to post-rock Post-rock is a form of e ...

* Offlaga Disco Pax

Germany

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, Constructivism (art), constructivism, surrealism ...

Ireland

Russia

* Konstantyn K. Kuzminsky

Spain

Carlos Oroza Carlos Oroza (13 May 1923 – 20 November 2015) was a Spanish poet. Style He is known mainly for the interpretation and performance of his own work. Such work is rare and composed of free verses with a great preponderance of strength and rhy ...

El Chojin Domingo Edjang Moreno (born 28 April 1977), better known by his stage name El Chojin (pronounced as in Japanese , not with a Spanish ''J''), is a Spanish rapper and songwriter. He is the current Guinness World Record holder for most syllables ...

United Kingdom

Daniel Beaty Daniel Beaty (born December 28, 1975) is an American actor, singer, writer, composer and poet. Beaty is known for his blend of music, movement, and words in such original works as ''Emergence-See'' and ''Through The Night''. Early life Daniel B ...

Attila the Stockbroker John Baine (born 21 October 1957), better known by his stage name Attila the Stockbroker,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 208 is an English punk poet, multi instrumentalist musician and songwriter. He pe ...

Francesca Beard Francesca Beard (born 1968) is a Malaysian writer and performance poet. Born in Kuala Lumpur, she has been based in London for much of her adult life and cites the city as a major inspiration in her work.Pete Brown *

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation ...

* Muslim Belal * Paula Claire *

John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a " punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with se ...

Jegsy Dodd Jegsy Dodd (born 1957, Wirral)Sills, Ben & Panja, Tariq (2009)Liverpool Tries Refinancing as Treatment Angers Fans, Bloomberg, 24 July 2009, retrieved 2011-08-14, "Jegsy Dodd, 51" is an English performance poet from Wirral. He first came to prom ...

John Hegley John Richard Hegley (born 1 October 1953) is an English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter. Early life He was born in the Newington Green area of Islington, London, England, into a Roman Catholic household. He was brought up i ...

Adrian Henri Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...

Michael Horovitz Michael Yechiel Ha-Levi Horovitz (4 April 1935 – 7 July 2021) was a German-born British poet, editor, visual artist and translator who was a leading part of the Beat Poetry scene in the UK. In 1959, while still a student, he founded the "tr ...

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His p ...

Anthony Joseph Anthony Joseph (born 12 November 1966 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is a British/Trinidadian poet, novelist, musician and academic. Biography Joseph was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he was raised by his grandparents. He b ...

Liverpool Poets The Liverpool poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from Liverpool, England, influenced by 1950s Beat poetry. They were involved in the 1960s Liverpool scene that gave rise to The Beatles. Their work is characterised by its directness of e ...

Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...

* Hollie McNish *

The Medway Poets The Medway Poets were founded in Medway, Kent, in 1979. They were an English punk based poetry performance group and later formed the core of the first Stuckists Art Group. The members were Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Robert Earl, Bill Lewis ...

Ted Milton Ted Milton (born 1943) is an English poet and musician, best known for leading Blurt, an experimental art rock group. Milton grew up in Africa, Canada and Great Britain. He published some early poems in magazines like ''Paris Review'' and Bria ...

* Andrew Motion *

Brian Patten Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessi ...

Jeremy Reed Jeremy Thomas Reed (born June 15, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Reed graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, California in 1999, and went on to play college basebal ...

Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...

* Rod Summers * Jim Templeton *

Nick Toczek Nick Toczek (born 20 September 1950; Shipley, England) is a British writer and performer working variously as poet, journalist, magician, vocalist, lyricist and radio broadcaster. He was raised in Bradford and then took a degree in Industrial ...

* Rhys Trimble *

Seething Wells Seething Wells is a neighbourhood in southwest London on the border between Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, and Elmbridge in Surrey. The area was historically a waterworks that supplied London with water ...

* Gez Walsh *

Luke Wright Luke James Wright (born 7 March 1985) is an English former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler. Wright joined Sussex in 2004, having started his career at Leicestershire. He was named in England's squad for ...

* Peter Wyton *

Murray Lachlan Young Murray Lachlan Young (born 14 March 1969) is a British poet, stand-up performer, broadcaster, playwright, screenwriter and children's author. He came to prominence during the Britpop era of the mid-1990s, when he became the only poet to sign a rec ...

Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...

Scroobius Pip David Peter Meads (born 3 August 1981), known professionally and personally as Scroobius Pip (Dave), is an English actor and podcaster as well as a former spoken word poet and hip hop recording artist from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. He first ga ...

Salena Godden Salena Godden is an English poet, author, activist, broadcaster, memoirist and essayist. Born in the UK, Salena Godden is of Jamaican-Irish heritage and based in London. Widely anthologised, she has published several books. She has also writt ...

Kae Tempest Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest; born 22 December 1985) is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. At the age of 16, Tempest was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in ...

* Byron Vincent * Alice McCullough

Australia

Jas H. Duke Jas Heriot Duke (1939–1992) was a cult figure in the Australian performance poetry scene. He worked much of his life in Melbourne Board of Works and began writing poetry in 1966. He was influenced by Dada, Expressionism and experimental movemen ...

* Jayne Fenton Keane * Luka Lesson * Chris Mansell *

Pi O П. O. (or Pi O, born 1951) is a Greek-Australian, working class, anarchist poet. Born in Katerini, Greece, П. O. came to Australia with his family around 1954. After time in Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, the family moved to t ...

* Les Wicks * Amanda Stewart *

Billy Marshall Stoneking William Randolph Marshall (31 August 1947 – 15 July 2016), better known as Billy Marshall Stoneking, was an American-Australian poet, playwright, filmmaker, and teacher. His son C.W. Stoneking is a musician. Childhood and education William Rand ...

* Komninos Zervos * Max-Mo

New Zealand

Tusiata Avia Donna Tusiata Avia (born 1966) is a New Zealand poet and children's author. Background Avia was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her father is Samoan and her mother is Palagi (New Zealand European). Avia graduated from the Univ ...

Miriam Barr Miriam Barr is a New Zealand page and performance poet. She is one of the original members of The Literatti, an Auckland-based performance poetry group started in 2006. Barr became creative director for the group in 2007. Her poetry has appeare ...

* Ben Fagan *

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...

* Craig Ireson * Michael Rudd * Apirana Taylor {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Performance Poets Performance poets