Hedwig Irene Gorski is an American performance poet and an avant-garde artist who labels her aesthetic as "American futurism." The term "performance poetry," a precursor to slam poetry, is attributed to her. It originated in press releases for experimental spoken word and conceptual theater Gorski created during 1979. She is a first-generation Polish American academic scholar and accomplished creative writer. The innovative poetry, prose, drama, and audio works are published and produced in a variety of media using standard and experimental forms.
Gorski in Louisiana, 2009
Gorski with Babe Stovall on a 1973 trip to rural Mississippi to visit blues guitarist Roosevelt Holts
Gorski with Václav Havel
Gorski with Swedish actor Peter Stormare in Prague, Czech Republic, backstage at Bob Dylan's concert in October 2003
Performance poetry is a broad term, encompassing a variety of styles and genres. In brief, it is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience.
H. O. Tanager performs at a bookstore in Boise, Idaho.
Hugo Ball performing at the Cabaret Voltaire
Natias Neutert performing Diogenes Synopsis as at Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin, 1986
Galway Kinnell performing a poetic piece in Vermont
