Outspoken, the poetry club at Niles North High School, will be competing in Louder than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival (LTAB). Young Chicago Authors and Columbia College are sponsoring this festival of the spoken word. Students from many schools in the Chicago area will compete in the event. More than a festival, LTAB is also a poetry slam, in which poets compete with their written works.

“What you should look forward to in the bouts is the high quality of poetic expression from all poets from all schools… the poetry festival is really about creating a space in which kids can safely express themselves authentically,” says English teacher William Sullivan, one of the Outspoken sponsors.

LTAB starts on Saturday, Feb. 16, with Crossing the Street at Columbia College. This event is open only to competitors. LTAB will continue on Feb 18- March 2 at Columbia College with the preliminary bouts and festival events. The Semi-Finals will take place on March 3 at Victory Gardens Theater. The individual finals will happen on March 6 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Team finals will occur on March 9 at the Cadillac Theater.

“All of our poets have been working really hard on their individual pieces, but I think we should expect something extra special from the poets who experienced LTAB last year – Lexi Kemp, Danelle Daye and Hussain Khemani,” Sullivan says.

The roster for poets competing in Louder Than A Bomb: Chris Birnbaum, Danelle Daye, Andre Jalloh, Andrea Jalloh, Lexi Kemp, Hussain Khemani, Yetunde Odonkoni, Jordan Spiwak.