Louder Than A Bomb is the largest teen poetry festival in the world. Aiming to bring teens together across racial, gang, and socio-economic lines, Louder Than A Bomb provides friendly competition that emphasizes self-expression and community through poetry, oral storytelling, and hip-hop spoken word. The festival is an Olympic-style poetry competition, featuring 70 teams and 650 students in 2011. Outside the main competitions, other slam events such as the Haiku Slam abound. Here, young poets compete against each other, seeking to serve up the most expert use of brevity. The slam is open to any young person who wants to compete, and the winner of the Haiku Slam gets to perform at team finals. But it’s important to remember that LTAB is about using your words. The points are not the point.

Recorded Friday, March 4, 2011 at Columbia College Chicago.