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. During the festival, there are also plenty of noncompetitive events, such as the Roger Bonair-Agard and Idris Goodwin Showcase. These two brilliant spoken-word practitioners recently published books with Cipher Publishing and Write Bloody Publishing, respectively, and the showcase celebrates their dedication to community involvement over the past fifteen years. Just another reminder that at Louder Than A Bomb, the points are not the point.

Recorded Friday, February 25, 2011 at Columbia College Chicago.