Collaboration
the medium & the message
Marc Smith formed the Chicago Poetry Ensemble in 1986 from regulars who read at the Get Me High Lounge in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. The Ensemble initiated the current era of group poetic dynamics and helped Marc establish the Uptown Poetry Slam. Top row (l to r): Rob Van Tuyle, Anna Brown, Joyce Degelmann, John Sheehan, Mike Barrett. Bottom row (l to r) Dave Cooper, Karen Nystrom, Jean Howard, Marc Smith.
Chicago Poetry Ensemble: Some Scripts and Poems
John Sheehan Suite
Arrangement of John Sheehan’s poetry with help from Whitman, Blake, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mike Barrett performed in celebration of publication of Leaving Gary.
Trustfall
A selection of old and new poems performed by the ensemble at the Chicago Cultural Center in April of 1997.
Twenty-one
Poem by Mike Barrett performed at 20th anniversary of Poetry Slam.
Poetry Memory
Series of memories about the birth of the slam by Mike Barrett, Rob Van Tuyle, Anna Brown, Dave Cooper, 2011.
Marc Smith and Mike Barrett after Poetry Slam for Carl Sandburg Days in Galesburg, IL, circa 2013.
Other Important Collaborations
(click title to navigate to page)
Programs, texts, films, postcards from collaborations with poets, fiction writers, musicians, filmmakers, and artists in Columbia, MO.
Sample programs and descriptions from the approximately 40 poetry shows produced with poetry students.
Information about literary magazine founded at Moberly Area Community College to publish student work and pay homage to worker/writer Jack Conroy who was from Moberly, MO.
Polyvocals
No doubt there were group pieces chanted around fires a million years ago, but the current style of polyvocal poetry arrangement has its genesis in Animal Songs, performed first in 1988 at the Green Mill.
Mike Barrett Archive 