“We deserve to be on the big stages the way stand-up comedians are,” said Des Moines poet Kelsey Bigelow. “We’re using our stories and our voices. It’s just in a different format.”
Iowa, home of the celebrated Writers’ Workshop and the UNESCO City of Literature, is embracing a new generation of poetic voices, from Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey to the Iowa Poetry Association, with its Poetry Palooza and Poetry on the Prairie events.
Kelsey Bigelow is a leader in this movement. An Iowa poetry ambassador, she tours the state and country promoting the art form, in particular spoken word.
“There’s just something about being on stage and speaking the words out loud [that] is just overwhelmingly powerful,” she said. “There’s so much release in it. Every time I’ve been on tour, every performance so far, no piece has been read exactly the same way because the emotion I’m feeling in the moment is always different. The way I need to release the words from my folder is always different. Sometimes it’s softer and more reserved, and other times it’s more powerful and in your face. It’s a very strong tool for feeling the range of emotions in a healthy way.”
Videos of her performances can be found on YouTube, Button Poetry, the Ghost Poetry Show and more. You can catch her live at any number of national poetry slams, including the Boston Poetry Slam coming up on March 12.
Her flagship paying-it-forward program, the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, meets twice monthly, covering writing and critiquing. She also chairs the annual Iowa Poetry Association Slam, with its qualifying events across Iowa in February, culminating in the final event at the 2025 Poetry Palooza (April 4-5).
Her role as a teacher often comes down to “encouraging people to keep going if they’re feeling nervous about continuing on the poem, and show that there’s more to poetry than just open mic,” she said. “It’s cathartic, it can have a widespread effect and really have an impact on other people’s lives.”
Bigelow released her debut spoken word album, Depression Holders and Secret Keepers, in 2021. In her 2024 collection Far from Broken, she “centers on the ‘checklist child’ from a broken family as she unpacks her life in therapy. Throughout the collection, she learns about her C-PTSD, dissociation and depression and learns to care for herself while building a full, healthy life of her own.”
Bigelow often explores poetry as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of mental health disorders, working with organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, NAMI and Planned Parenthood.
“One of my top strengths is helping other people see their worth and skill set and living up to their best abilities,” she said. “Poetry has definitely been an avenue for me to do that, helping others process something they’ve gone through that they didn’t really know how to process until they saw someone else do it.”
Discover what Kelsey Bigelow is up to at kelkaybpoetry.com.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s February 2025 issue.
