What started with 60 students in four schools is now the largest youth poetry festival on the planet. Louder Than A Bomb got its start in 2001, when Young Chicago Authors Artistic Director Kevin Coval saw the opportunity to give the youth of Chicago a way to share their stories on stage. Young Chicago Authors partners with schools and community groups to provide workshops and mentor programs to engage students with an interest in creative writing, so Louder Than A Bomb was a natural extension of the organization.
Louder Than A Bomb began with students from four high schools competing on stage in spoken word events. The organization has spread to 140 area schools with over 1,300 students involved and festivals from Omaha to Boston. Their success is no surprise, given their mission: contributing to a positive youth culture, providing students the tools they need to craft and share their stories, invigorating educational spaces and creating platforms for emerging artists to gain a foothold doing what they love.
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