Chicago poet J. Ivy’s efforts to push art form further into mainstream pay off with new Grammy category

J. Ivy is photographed in the Cinema Room at SoHo House Chicago. The Chicago poet is nominated in a new Grammy category this year, best spoken word poetry album. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

At Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, the first-ever winner of the best spoken word poetry album will be announced. It’s a new category that the Recording Academy introduced this year — all because of the efforts and petitions of Chicago wordsmith J. Ivy.

“ [The new category] is important because the Recording Academy’s mission is to honor the best in music. It’s important because poetry is, in fact, a big part of music,” Ivy explained in an interview on Grammy.com. “It’s important because spoken word poets and spoken word artists have been pushing the culture forward with their words, their ideas and their performances since the beginning of time.”