Interview: Kevin Coval

The Creative Muscle

Studs Terkel called Kevin Coval’s voice “our hope for a new world of peace, grace and beauty.” The co-founder of /Louder Than a Bomb,/the country’s largest youth poetry slam, and Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors, Kevin Coval’s life is an embodiment of the Creative Muscle’s fourth element: You Are What You Give. He is a poet, educator and activist who has empowered thousands of young people to use their voices and talents to organize, engage and express. He is the poet-in-residence at the Jane Addams’ Hull House and serves as faculty at the School of the Art Institute and University of Illinois-Chicago. He is the author of several award-winning books of poetry including /A People’s History of Chicago,/forward written by Chance the Rapper, whom he also mentored. He sat down with the Creative Muscle to discuss standing up for what you believe in, hope for young people, and how to sustain a body of work over time.