Kristine Juntura brings spoken word to Youtube

I am constantly inspired by what people in the spoken word and slam community are up to. I think that in many ways that is the community that is keeping poetry alive in the 21st century. Poetry in social media seems to come through as either short bits that fit on status updates or YouTuve videos where people take the risk of putting themselves out there. Kristine Juntura is taking that risk and making stellar videos to go along with her spoken word pieces-- and she's got thousands of YouTube subscribers who love them.

Taking Video Seriously

I think it's really impressive that she is putting the time and energy into scripting, shooting, voicing over, and producing the videos. Most of her videos are credited to SkinnyGuy Productions, which is a good reminder to all of us poets and writers and authors making YouTube videos that it helps to take the process seriously. It's not just about recording yourself talking on your laptop for 10 minutes.

New People

Def Jam Poetry was a big influence on me growing up, and one of the great things about it was being able to see someone do a poem you love over again. I would venture to guess that way more people are getting into poetry through YouTube (via music, spoken word, etc.) than through high school or college text books. And you know what? That's great. Hearing poetry spoken is closer to the origins of this old, old art form that came from telling and memorizing stories around campfires.

What it means for an author platform

What Juntura is up to is important for a few reasons from an author platform standpoint. She's got 55,000+ views on her video for "The Girl." That's an impressive number in and of itself, but what it means platform-wise is that she has had that many chances to meet people through video. When I saw her video I clicked through to check out what else she has- website, etc. - She had my attention with this video. And I think that's the true benefit from an author platform standpoint. Video, for poets, is a chance to hook people into wanting to know more.

What are you doing as an author to hook people into wanting to know more?

Image source: Still from "The Girl," by Kristine Juntura