Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB), organized by Youth Chicago Authors, is the largest youth poetry festival in the world. Founded in 2001, LTAB is annually held in Chicagoland for more than a thousand young poets. They perform in both original solo performances and group poems, competing with other teams.
Beginning February 15, this year's five-week festival is still looking for volunteers, particularly greeters and folks to sell merchandise.
"The competition is structured around two Preliminary Bouts for each team (Weeks 1 and 2), Quarter Finals (Week 3), Semifinals (Week 4), and Finals (Week 5), with special events all poets can perform in scheduled throughout the festival," according to their website.
This year spotlights "Our Miss Brooks," and also offers specialty events like "¡Louder Than A Bomba!," "Queeriosity," a "Purim Party," and "Halal If You Hear Me" to grant a stage to Latinx, LGBTQ+, Jewish, and Muslim youth poet communities. There will also be a Brown Girls Release Party (February 15) and A People's History of Chicago Book Release Party & Reading (March 4). Visit their calendar for the full event list.
Tickets to attend each day of poetry are on sale through the LTAB website. There are special prices for students and groups as well. Also be sure to check out social media updates with the hashtag #LTAB2017 and the 2017 LTAB mixtape on SoundCloud.