Sarah Kay’s Best Spoken Word Poetry Moments

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All hail the queen of the spoken word poetry stage: Sarah Kay.

When it comes to spoken word poetry, Sarah Kay is the pitch-perfect balance of performance and heart. From her body language and microexpressions to her cadence and confidence, her delivery holds captive entire auditoriums and the lone YouTube viewer alike. Simply put, she’s spellbinding.

First, listen to her TED Talk. Yes, for real. She lays down verses rife with puns, clever wordplay, and poetry that will tie you up in knots and shake you out again.

Her humor and wry language makes palatable even the most honest and heart-wrenching story– like the time she was dumped in a Whole Foods. The details she captures in language wind around your imagination, and you can picture her trashing the place on her way out, tempted to stand and cheer her theatrics even if they’re only hypothetical. (11/10 for this next poem, we would absolutely run interference for her if she wanted to reign this kind of doom down on a Whole Foods.)

Her poetry looks further outside herself, though. She uses her clever wordplay and razor sharp tongue and delicate, nuanced intonation to rip right to the heart of larger societal issues. And as compelling as she is, she delivers her poetry in a way that’s not polarizing, hostile, aggressive, combative. You want to follow her on her journey to confront the themes and issues and obstacles she so articulately pulls into sharp focus with her work.

Kay has several poetry volumes available, and her written word is as immersive and soul-stirring as her spoken word poetry. Each gets a hearty recommendation from the little infinite team.

She tours and gives workshops with her poetry partner Phil Kaye (no relation) and her spoken word poetry with him is just as lyrical, clever, impactful, and fun. You can see their spoken word duets below, and check out Project Voice. (Below even further, you can find her books.) You can also keep up with her website and find her on Twitter.