Brave New Voices

Brave New Voices (BNV) is a youth spoken word festival created by the nonprofit organization Youth Speaks in 1998. Its conception was inspired by the inaugural Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam in San Francisco, California, which was the first poetry slam dedicated to youth in the world. In the years since, Brave New Voices has grown to represent young writers from the ages of 13 to 19, and it is the largest ongoing spoken word festival in the world.

BNV's main event is the International Youth Poetry Slam, where as many as 50 teams, each composed of 4-6 youths, compete for title of best poetry slam team in the world. The final teams are judged by a jury composed of artistic personalities such as illusionist and television host Penn Jillette, poets Mayda Del Valle and Beau Sia, musician Talib Kweli and actress Sanaa Lathan.

In 2008 and 2010, the final rounds of the Brave New Voices Poetry Slam aired on HBO.