'Words go past there': reading and pedagogy of mediatized spoken word poetry

'Words Go Past There': Reading and Pedagogy of Mediatized Spoken Word Poetry by Cole Mash begins with the notion that Spoken Word poetry, as a recognizable genre of contemporary writing, has been somewhat excluded from literary canons, classroom syllabi, as well as critical study more generally despite its historical-cultural significance and recent proliferation worldwide. In the past 20 years, there has been an influx of socio-cultural work done on Spoken Word poetry; however, Mash clarifies that what is needed for the genre to enter the economies of academic research and the university classroom is further study on form. Current methods of the study of literature are inadequate to the formal richness of contemporary Spoken Word poetry as a live and mediatized art form that contains print, sonic, and visual elements. Engaging contemporary work on spoken word/Spoken Word poetry, literary sound studies, performance, media studies and theories of reading, Mash puts forth a new method for the study of Spoken Word poetry and tests it through a global case study of the work of four Spoken Word poets from different backgrounds, global communities, and aesthetic approaches. Finally, the work concludes with a digital resource, created through with an ethos and methods of social practice, that can be used by educators, students, researchers, and afficionados for the critical study of Spoken Word poetry.