WUSlam, Washington University’s premier slam poetry club, hosted renowned poet Phil Kaye Sunday, Nov. 5. This was the first time that the organization has hosted a guest speaker since the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was a raging success, leaving attendees awestruck by Kaye’s stellar performance. Gracing the makeshift stage in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge, Kaye treated the audience to a selection of his poetry including, but not limited to, “My Grandmother’s Ballroom,” “Beginning, Middle & End,” and one of his most iconic pieces, “Repetition.”

Kaye’s work has been shown in settings such as The New Yorker, NPR, and the Museum of Modern Art. His fame has even surpassed the U.S., as he has performed in over 20 different countries. Kaye traces his career back to when he was just 17. “I saw another kid do poetry, and I was just enamored. It was like a light bulb went on. The ability to speak about what I wanted to using my own words, using my body and my voice is really exciting. And I just went home and started writing,” Kaye said.

Kaye explained the importance of spoken word as his poetry method. “It’s such a full portrait of the self. There’s an intimacy to it that I love and an immediacy to it that I love,” he said.

One particular poem that embodies the very intimacy Kaye described is “My Grandmother’s Ballroom.” This piece tells the story of Kaye’s relationship with his grandmother and her heartbreaking final years of life. Between the tsunami of snaps — a showing of appreciation in the poetry community — and the pure silence during the poem’s deepest moments, Kaye undoubtedly achieved one of his goals: “a moment of collective understanding.”

“My Grandmother’s Ballroom” didn’t require any sort of deep analysis. All that was needed was a heart and an interest. One of the attendees, senior Katie Lawson, said of Kaye’s poems, “They are very story-based, so they’re more accessible.”

WUSlam president and junior Kelly Guethlein shared that she has hopes that this event will kick-start the club’s speaker program again. “I’m hopeful that we can continue to reach out to big names and to be able to bring people to campus and continue growing the art,” she said.