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Book Club Thu Feb 28 2013
Louder Than a Bomb 2013 Gears Up for Finals
Louder Than a Bomb, the city wide slam poetry festival with over 750 teenagers and college students participating, will be hosting the preliminary, semi-finals, and finals over the next week.
Louder Than a Bomb, or LTAB, was founded in 2001 by poet Kevin Coval and Ana West through Young Chicago Authors. It has now become the largest youth poetry festival in the world. The festival was created to give Chicago youth the stage and the space to tell their own stories. Both teams and individuals compete in the festival.
In February 2011, TimeOut Chicago featured Louder Than a Bomb and interviewed Robbie Q. Telfter, the education director at LTAB. He discussed the goal of the slam as being larger than just poetry:
We want Louder Than a Bomb to make crossing the street seem a lot easier than it tends to be in Chicago.
This sentiment continues to ring true in 2013, when youth violence has taken center stage in Chicago. The festival sees their mission as being a bridge to connect young people to find common ground.
The individual final slam will be held Wednesday, March 6 at 6pm at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. The event is free, but reserving a seat is encouraged.
The team final slam is set for Saturday, March 9 at 6pm at the Cadillac Palace Theater, 151 W. Randolph St. Tickets are $20 for general public, $10 for students.
Order tickets or reserve your seat for both of these events and the various other festival events here.
