Staceyann Chin – A Poetry Slammer 2001
Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th St., New York, NY 10016; 212-808-4980
Produced by Mette-Ann Schepelern
Directed by Ullrik Wivel
VHS, color, 27 min.
High School - Adult
Biography, Gary and Lesbian Studies, Multicultural Studies, Poetry, Popular Culture, Women's Studies, Writing
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Michelle Visser, Norlin Library, University of Colorado at BoulderThis film is an effective introduction to the world of poetry slamming as well as a fascinating portrait of one of its foremost slammers. Staceyann Chin explains that the slam places “poetry within the context of a spectator sport.” Footage of poetry slams featuring Chin (and others) confirms this. The poems are delivered with blood-taking passion and power.
In interviews with Chin at home, she discusses her early abandonment by both parents, her relationship with her mother, and her experiences as a lesbian, Jamaican/Chinese immigrant to the United States—subjects which also suffuse her poems. If she occasionally blurs the line between candid disclosure and performance it somehow doesn’t matter.
Because there is no additional narration, it is from the video’s box that we learn Chin’s poetry has been published in the New York Times and the Washington Post and that she has a successful one woman Off-Broadway show. The film itself is shot in a montage of urban light, music, and sound that duplicates the poetry slam in its artistic intensity.