Click here to visit the site of "The Connection," a "daily, two-hour public affairs program on public radio stations nationwide… topics range from jazz, medicine, sports and history to politics of every dimension, food, poetry, religion and science." Patricia Smith inhabits the archives of this intriguing site in an article entitled "Poet and Performance Artist Patricia Smith." Read this article to obtain information about Smith and her poetry slams-in this good introduction to the writer and her craft. Also included is a list of related links, and an opportunity to continue an online discussion about this issue.

Poetry Slam, Inc.
http://www.poetryslam.com/

Puzzled? Visit this site to find out what exactly Patricia Smith is talking about when she refers to a "Poetry Slam." This mission statement of the site is: "To advocate… the art of performance poetry… [and] to enhance the perception of literary merit and legitimacy of performance poetry as an art form." You can access poetry slam listings across the United States, engage in an interactive chat or video and more. This is a fun and entertaining visit for inspired poets.

E-Poets: Patricia Smith
http://www.e-poets.net/library/bov/001-PSmith/index.html

Visit this site for an amazing introduction to the voice and words of Patricia Smith. Here you'll find a brief biography of the writer, along with six pieces of "audition poetry"-poems with online audio links. These poems ("What it Means to Be a Black Girl," "Terrell's Take On Things," "Biting Back," "Skinhead," "Chinese Cucumbers," "Dark Magicians," and "Sweet Daddy") make this site an invaluable resource. Biography

BIOGRAPHY
Patricia Smith (b. 1955) was born in Chicago, Illinois. She got her first exposure to performance poetry while covering Chicago's Neutral Turf Poetry Festival for the Chicago Sun-Times. Smith quickly gained fame in the poetry slam circuit while continuing her work as a journalist. In 1991 she accepted a job with the Boston Globe and brought the Chicago style of slam poetry with her to New England. In 1998 she was nominated for the Pulitzer prize for journalism, but the nomination was quickly withdrawn after it was proven that some of her stories for the Globe had been fabricated. Smith has published three books of poetry, Life According to Motown (1991), Big Towns, Big Talk (1992), which won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and Closer to Death (1993). Smith is also the four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, and has performed her work around the world.