Forms and Ecosystems of Publication in Contemporary Italian Spoken Word

How does one publish spoken word poetry? The exceptional hybridity of this artistic practice – caught between liveness and the library, the performative dimension and the written page, the naked voice and its fusion with music, visual arts, and digital media –is reflected in the variety of publication formats that spoken word poets use to share their work beyond the live performance.

At one end of the spectrum is the book. Interestingly, many spoken word artists publish in a traditional format that simply reproduces the poem on the page – often effectively, even when stripped of its performative dimension. This is the case, for example, with Francesca Gironi’s poetry collection A. In other instances, the written collection is expanded through drawings, as in Maria Oppo’s Mostros, or/and audio CDs, such as Lello Voce’s Farfalle da combattimento. Whether in its traditional or expanded form, the book remains the most common mode of publication among spoken word performers.

Logo of the Zoopalco Poetry Label (ZPL)

However, other artists deliberately avoid the written page, viewing it as inadequate for conveying the full experience of performance. Instead, they often share their recordings on digital platforms like Bandcamp, offering an alternative means of circulating their poetry alongside the more conventional medium of book publication. A notable example in this sense is the spoken word record label ZPL, which released its productions as LPs without any accompanying written publication.

Other poets, such as Cristian Kosmonavt Zinfolino, are experimenting with what one can broadly define as videopoetry (for a useful overview on videopoetry: Valerio Cuccaroni’s Poesia Ibrida). The growing interest in this form of publication is evident in the frequent participation of spoken word poets in videopoetry prizes such as La Poesia che Si Vede and Sinestetica.

Books, LPs, Videopoetry: the proliferation of publication formats in contemporary Italian spoken word reflects the hybridity of the art form itself. However, these formats are not necessarily distinct from one another. In fact, many artists are actively exploring the interconnections between them in search of a more immersive media environment.

Such is the case with the aforementioned ZPL, where the sonic dimension of the LPs is expanded through additional formats, such as vinyls with typographical experimentation, verbo-visual compositions, and posters providing access to video clips. Refusing to commit to a single form of publication, ZPL instead adopts an intermedial approach that allows a poem or project to travel, adapt, and take shape across a range of medium-specific outputs, which together contribute in the creation of a shared, coherent environment.

The same intermedial approach informs Howphelia, a streaming platform for poetry developed by Angela Grasso and Luca Rizzatello, which merges digital and analog experiences. Through a subscription, viewers gain access to both a printed book of the performance and related video art content, along with livestreams featuring the artists and behind-the-scenes footage of the creative process. Howphelia’s goal is to foster a community in which the traditional passivity of the streaming audience is challenged by a more participatory and immersive experience.

The hybrid and flexible nature of contemporary performance poetry, already underscored by the choice of alternative forms of publication beyond the written page, is then further expanded by the intermedial approach adopted by Howphelia and ZPL. Going beyond the selection of a single output, these publications allow the poem to move across the different channels of the “media reticulum”, as Gabriele Frasca defined it, and, through the dialogue and interpenetration among the various modes of publication, to generate what can be understood as “ecosystems” of publication.

Image from the Howphelia website