by prominent poets frequently are booked into larger venues such as amphitheaters and college auditoriums, 'to take poetry public'. Poetry readings almost always involve poets reading their own work or reciting it from memory but readings often involve several readers (often called "featured poets" or "featureds"), although one poet can be chosen as a "headliner". History Quite how early poems like the Illiad were first experienced by audiences remains not entirely clear. (But see rhapsode) American poet Donald Hall described the increase in emphasis on public readings of poetry in the United States in a 2012 New Yorker magazine blog post where he recounted it a phenomenon that grew in the last half of the twentieth century. Hall, who speculates that the change may have been due to the star power of Dylan Thomas, wrote, "It used to be that one poet in each generation performed poems in public. In the twenties, it was Vachel Lindsay, who sometimes dropped to his knees in the middle of a poem. Then Robert Frost took over, and made his living largely on the road." Hall suggests that poetry readings have shifted the focus of poetry more towards sound, adding that "In concentrating on sound, as in anything else, there are things to beware of. Revising a poem one morning, I found myself knowing that a new phrase was repellent, but realized it would pass if I intoned it out loud. Watch out. A poem must work from the platform but it must also work on the page." Poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive format that has become increasingly popular, especially in the United States, since its inception in the 1980s. A "slam" is the art of poetry presented in public as is the "open mic" event variant. See also Dub poetry Open mic Performance poetry Poet laureate Sound poetry Spoken word Vachel Lindsay Puerto Rican Poetry Nuyorican References External links Poetry reading collection – University of Oregon Poetry Out Loud: Audio Guide examples Video showcase recorded at poetry readings in Southern California Video showcase recorded at poetry readings in Vancouver, BC, Canada Performing arts Poetry