Wendylicious Writers

Central to Roy McFarlane’s Poetry Book Society Choice, Jhalak Prize longlisted, Ted Hughes shortlisted collection, The Healing Next Time, is the section titled: ‘…they killed them’.  Here, in the heart of the book which becomes transplanted into the heart of the reader, McFarlane courageously and technically skilfully  allows us to witness the harrowing moments in which people such as David Oluwale and Joy Gardner, die.

As reader-witness to these events, initially, we feel helpless and mournful.  Then we feel angry at these avoidable deaths.  Although these atrocities, ranging from 1969 to 2017, have been covered by the media and memorials, McFarlane’s poetic approach brings the devastating dying moments of mothers, brothers and sons, into sharp and present focus.

Events have been taking place in Leeds to mark 50 years since the death of David Oluwale, who ‘felt the kick between his legs, the piss that poured upon his head’ as he was attacked by the ‘custodians of the law’ until ‘they dragged his lifeless body’ from the River Aire.  In this poem, McFarlane reveals the contrasting representations on official documents ‘British wog’ and contrasting views of a ‘popular young guy, sharp dresser, excellent dancer’ is coupled with defamatory italics ‘menace to society, a nuisance to police, a frightening apparition’, examples of the racist slurs these victims were subjected to.

McFarlane’s refusal to shy away from shocking truths and institutional racism, gives the reader permission and encouragement to question, to speak up and to challenge.  In the case of Oluwale, a young police cadet was brave enough to speak up, despite the backlash he may have faced, which led to some level of justice.

The brutal use of ‘body belts, chains, handcuffs’ and ‘13ft of tape’ on a mother, in front of her five-year-old child, is harrowing.  Although they ‘taped her head…and right here, she ceased to breathe’ no one was ever convicted for the death of Joy Gardner.  Brutal procedures may have ceased but institutional racism and deaths in custody persist to 2017, as we see in the subsequent poems.

Just as the ‘wailing woman’ who cries ‘on the floor’, the reader-witness asks ‘Whyyyyy?’.  The lives and loss of life at the heart of this collection are written with deep respect for the victims and their loved ones.  McFarlane’s work as a Youth and Community worker has given him the foundation to approach these sensitive topics with facts, compassion and a desire to teach.  This essential collection is important for younger generations to learn our history and to create change for the future.  For older generations, it’s an important reminder to never forget these people who were part of our communities and our migration story.

At the launch party of his collection, McFarlane revealed the tender, grateful family man he is.  Generously inviting other talented performers, such as Casey Bailey  and Reis Taylor Dixon, to share their incredible poetry and beautiful music.  This is also an example of the way in which McFarlane considerately contributes to and welcomes writers into the poetry community.  Throughout his powerful launch performance with his booming, soulful voice, McFarlane thanked his friends, colleagues and loved ones who have supported him on his journey to this, his second collection.

In the first section of the book, you can see this tenderness seep through as the image of ‘the family man’ is repeated on his journey through the turn of the new millennium.  The final section, ‘Gospel According to Rasta’, is a celebration of Birmingham, otherwise known as ‘the city of a hundred tongues’.  In his element on stage, McFarlane’s Birmingham born, Jamaican parentage tongue effortlessly and comically slips between the voice of the writer and the voice of the Rasta.  Not only do I urge you to purchase his collections, I encourage you to see McFarlane’s performance on stage too.  Also, if you are a writer, you must attend one of his writing workshops.  At the first Nine Arches Press Word Play event, McFarlane’s writing prompts were thought and memory provoking, a heady and heartfelt mix that inspired the attendees to write their own poems.

I selected both of McFarlane’s collections for my December 2018 Poetry Book Club  monthly reads as they show the development of a writer, personal experiences and public stories. Beginning with Your Last Breath, his debut collection, speaks of adoption, loss, love and finding oneself.  The narrative nature of some of the poems allows the reader to participate in and feel the moment a son sees his birth mother for the first time:

The door opens and I see her silhouette

I see her walk down the stairs,

I see her and she sees me.

She cries out,

My son, my son.

Beginning with Your Last Breath also holds hints of his second collection as he subtly touches upon similar themes that appear in The Healing Next Time, for instance in his poem The Tebbit Test (Patriotism).

A line that continues to linger in my mind: ‘If poetry could take the pain away/it would begin with your last breath’.

                   

Verve Poetry Festival:

Moniza Alvi, Jacob Sam-La Rose and Alison Brackenbury Review

My 2019 Verve Poetry Festival experience began with an Inua Ellams’ ground swell, erupted in loud applause, followed by rapturous calls and poetry clicks.  The penultimate event to end the third annual Verve Poetry Festival held at the historic Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham, began with a reading from Moniza Alvi.

Alvi, born in Pakistan and grew up in Hertfordshire, has published nine collections of poetry.  Having taught Presents from My Aunt in Pakistan for many years in secondary schools, it was a privilege to hear her in person.

Recently, Alvi has been working on a translation of Marina Tsvetaeva (1892-1941) who was a ‘fierce and tender’ Russian poet.  For many of us who attended the Verve Festival, as it was for Tsetaeva, ‘poetry was first and foremost; everything else is secondary’.  The first poem Alvi read was ‘a shot at jealousy’.  The speaker of the poem is an ex-lover who repeatedly demands of their ex-partner ‘How does it feel…’ being with a new lover.  Verve’s engaged audience ‘ouched’ and ‘ahhed’ as the list went from ‘How does it feel to be a replica’, ‘an alien’ to ‘trashy goods’.  A sobering twist was delivered in the final line as the speaker confessed that her ex must feel ‘as I do’ to be with another.

Before Tsvetaeva’s suicide in 1941, she wrote of the ‘peace’ that eluded the ‘tortured’, ‘hunkered up’, ‘hellish burning’ years.  She sought the ‘cool shady garden’, a ‘haven’, an ‘oasis of solitude’ where there are ‘borders but no confines’.  After death, I hope that Tsvetaeva found ‘a garden for the freedom of [her] soul’.

It was difficult to decide which book to buy: the powerful translation or one of Alvi’s own collections.  However, the interplay of the lives of Alvi’s parents with her observations of birds, delighted me during her reading so I purchased her latest Bloodaxe Books collection Blackbird Bye Bye. The Nest They Made describes how Alvi’s ‘motherbird’ and ‘fatherbird’ made their nest ‘differently’.  They ‘lined it with scraps’, ‘knotted Bakhara rugs…from gauzy Indian scarves’ which reminds me of my mother and grandmother who nested in the Midlands. Whilst ‘some weeks they couldn’t afford to pay the rent’ not only speaks of a young family’s emigration from Pakistan but to the many young families who are currently struggling and are forced to hide ‘as best’ they can.  ‘Our nest was high up, glittery./They built and built’ demonstrates the resourcefulness and resilience of our parents and grandparents’ generations.

I was particularly touched by Alvi’s delicately observed and solemnly reflective poems about the death of her father.  It appears that only now that ‘fatherbird’ has ‘gone’ in Dark Bird, Alvi can reveal the multifaceted man he was.  Not ‘solidly black, but speckled,/streaked, banded’.  A spark from a ‘single orange feather…keeps on burning’ allowing him to be remembered and live on through ‘the dark’.

Alvi’s new work in progress explores teenage girls being drawn to terrorism and the dichotomy of good and evil.  ‘Stoning the devil’, a custom  of throwing stones at three walls as part of the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, is an image that recurs appearing as a ‘cathartic’ way to ‘drive out low desires’.  A young girl who grows up through the series of poems observes her mother as a ‘pale brown version’ that is now seen ‘from afar’.  Alvi’s weaving of opposites, in this case the internet and nature, is particularly effective.  A young girl browsing online is ambushed by ‘people’ who ‘jump out of the bushes’ and ‘pounce’ ‘airless’ through the ‘planetary light of the screen’.  It ‘doesn’t take long to net a man’ whose ‘name explodes in her head’.  My hope is that this series of poems continues to honestly explore good and evil and that it doesn’t become a stone to throw at young women.

Moniza Alvi joined Alison Brackenbury on the fabulously pink stage sofas whilst Jacob Sam-La Rose took to the microphone.

His first reading For the Young Men Popping Wheelies is a new work about ‘cyclists’ on London bridge.  It begins: ‘One day you will die’.  Fortunately, for the wincing audience who feared the imminent road crash of metal and limb twisting deaths, the ‘lads’ didn’t ‘die’ today with endings that ‘taste of a mouthful of road and iron’, luckily ‘not today’ for the ‘brazen’, ‘uproarious’, ‘lads’.

In his next poem, I enjoyed reminiscing with Sam-La Rose about ‘those days’ filled with ‘coin up machines’ in a lone ‘chip shop’.  The machine with its ‘care-worn button’ smashed ‘to senselessness’.  ‘Bless those nights’, those ‘small change lives’.

Sam-La Rose also took us back to a time of ‘archaic gamers’ with tapes that took at least ‘an episode of neighbours’ and dinner time to load.  The speaker in his poem Assembly Language admits that they have ‘never been good with numbers’ but in order to ‘fly’ in this ‘world within worlds’ they have ‘learnt to trust’ ‘the competence of wings’ in the same way we’d ‘trust’ the ‘sky’ that’s never ‘had enough of playing along’.  Sam-La Rose’s new work and future projects will continue to explore language and the creativity of coding and poetry with ‘virtual realities’ and ‘worlds in worlds’; thankfully, Sam-La Rose reassured us that robots could never replace poets.

Heartland, a reading of the poignant poem from the point of view of Sam-La Rose’s mother, and many women like her, who came to England from Guyana in 1963.  My mother and grandmother are also part of the Windrush generation, so this poem deeply resonated with me.  The poem and the current hostile environment remind us that ‘this country has no interior for us’, ‘we remain on its shores’.  The mother admits to her child: ‘I fear for you’.  Being both English born and of Caribbean descent we have a ‘heritage’ we ‘cannot claim’ and it is often asked of us ‘which land mothered you’.  Sam-La Rose’s final rhetorical question resonated with the confusion I’ve often felt when I am told to go back home: ‘in which direction will you turn’?

Sam-La Rose very kindly signed my copy of Breaking Silence his 2011 (with multiple reprints) Bloodaxe Books collection.  Three poems contained the theme of absent fathers – which must never be reduced to the simplistic discussion of absent black fathers and single mother families following a recent reductive resurgence of this topic but read through an individual child’s eyes and the experiences of individual families.  Never lists the things ‘he never taught me’.  From how to ‘hold a pair of clippers’ to how to ‘love music’.  The Hours speaks of ‘my other father – the one who stayed’ who ‘worked nights’ and upon his return each morning ‘his feet took to the stairs, slow, with care’  The collection closes with A Spell for Forgetting a Father with a quote from Terrance Hayes’ Mother to Son.  This cutting the cord ‘spell’ requires ‘candles’ and ‘feathers’ to let each other go ‘as I release you/so you release me’ with a tone of moving forward without bitterness, leaving sadness on the ground where the ‘feather’ lays.

Alison Brackenbury’s reading of her stunning career spanning ‘selected poems’ collection Gallop published in 2019 by Carcanet Press, was utterly captivating.  The entire audience, including Jonathan Davidson, who was chairing the event, and Sam-La Rose and Alvi on the stage sofas, were completely enthralled by Brackenbury’s beautiful poetry.  Even her speaking voice to introduce each poem was lyrical, to the point that I often thought she was still delivering a poem rather than an insightful explanation.

In 1981, at age 28, Brackenbury’s first ‘eager collection’ recalls an older generation.  My Old from her first collection, Dreams of Power, refers to her ‘parents’ who ‘seem to dwindle’, whilst the ‘bells’ that were ‘heard’ for the ‘Queen’ that died is Queen Victoria.  Although her poetry is nostalgic for an earlier time, for instance in The House that recalls ‘the house of childhood’ where ‘my bones and my heart ache/In every joist’, Brackenbury’s writing and poetic style is timeless.

In 8 a.m. Brackenbury appears to look back to the ‘girl’ she was, but kindly wishes and hopes that the girl ‘pedalling’ with ‘hitched skirt, silver pumps’, ‘may…ride her falls’, which is indicative of Brackenbury’s encouragement of the next generation of women writers.  During her discussions with Jonathan Davidson, Brackenbury said that she was influenced by ‘pioneers’ such a Fleur Adcock, Elizabeth Jennings and Jenny Joseph.  The Verve audience certainly hold Brackenbury with the same high regard.

Throughout the collected poems, horses, nature and the countryside are always beautifully and prominently featured.  In My Old ‘the snow froze hard, tramped down’, in the title poem ‘young horses…surging hard ahead’, ‘the wet soil/flung shining past me’ with good omens of ‘Two flashing magpies rising from the trees’.  Hill Mist taken from her Breaking Ground collection admits ‘I am too fond of mist’ despite it being ‘blind/without tenderness; whose cold clings close/round the face.’

Brackenbury (and her cat) plan to work through a bag that contains snippets of half-finished poems for a 2022 release with Carcanet Press.

After Brackenbury’s final reading of Skies taken from its title collection, the theatre erupted into rapturous applause, that is certainly in keeping with the Verve’s festival jubilation and theatre’s celebrations of its 106^th birthday this weekend.

The brilliantly curated and chaired event ended with the audience storming the stage for signatures from the incredibly talented poets.  With just one more event to finalise the fantastic Verve Poetry Festival, it is with some sadness that we will have to wait another twelve months for the next one.

 

 

 

March 2019 Find the Right Words Review

A delicious smell enticed us into the bar area of Leicester’s unique pub theatre, Upstairs at the Western, as Veg ‘AN’ Love hosted a vegan pop up kitchen, serving naan bread pizzas, vegan pies – a raffle prize from last month’s poetry night – and vegan mash topped pies, such as ‘The Shepherd-less’.

After a tasty start to March’s Find the Right Words, there was an almost unpalatable pause as the night began without a speed poet, due to a last-minute cancellation.  Jess Green, the wonderful host, brilliant poet & 2018 Slam Champion, gave the audience 15 seconds to produce a volunteer or the night would be without its key slot.

Fortunately, poet Stewart came to the rescue.  Superhero Stewart challenged with the task of writing a poem in an hour, was given three audience selected themes.  The first theme: Dogs in pubs (in honour of visiting dog Ralph, pet of headliner Tina Sederholm); the second theme ‘the first day of spring’ (owing to the beautiful day we’d had) and I contributed the third topic ‘peer pressure’ (for the speed poet’s ‘volunteer’ process!).  Stewart headed back to the bar to write during the first half.  Any willing volunteers for future months should get in touch with Jess to put your speed poetry writing to the test.

Jess Green, who is currently touring her show A Self Help Guide to Being in Love with Jeremy Corbyn, which has received fantastic feedback from her first few shows, flawlessly delivered a poem about the moment she ‘decided to become a poet’.  Who knew ‘there is so much to pay for as an adult?’  Then again, ‘who needs a mortgage or savings’ when you have ‘feelings and means to express them through the power of art and a well-crafted poem’.  A few days later, Jess visited a school and encouraged young writers to dream big in an ‘inspiring’ assembly about her career as a writer.

Charles Wheeler, who has a gig on 5^th June at Upstairs at the Western, read a poem about being angry at newspapers.  Wheeler asked them to take a ‘look at what you’ve become/are you poison?’  Unfortunately, the answer that hung in the air of the auditorium to Wheeler’s frustrated rhetorical questions was ‘YES’.

Second open micer of the night, Alan, shared a poem about his son’s school life and friendships, followed by the first headliner, Daniel Piper.

Piper, a Scottish National Slam Champion 2017 who won second place in a worldwide slam competition, opened his set by giving the audience a choice of three poems about drugs, vegetarianism or drink.  The loudest audience member won the vote and selected drugs, so Piper performed a poem about an experience of taking an E.  Reassuring the audience that it would be ‘the last like that poem’, he proceeded to introduce his collection Arbitrary and Unnecessary published by Unbound.  The reading of his hilarious, self-indulgent, satirical foreword, complete with ‘Piperian wordplay’, had the entire audience erupting into laughter.  Piper has a brilliant sense of humour and we all appreciated his comedic poetry.

In many of his poems, Piper reveals his decision to make the most of life.  He will ‘live each day like [his] last’, ‘work on [his] muscles’ and even accepted a dare to be a vegetarian.  After several vegetable wraps, unfortunately, he realised he’d made a mistake.  It was like ‘smoking a cigarette not lit’.  In another bid to live life to the fullest, Piper’s final poem is an extract from his Edinburgh set that mocks consumerism and society’s misguided cure of buying anything and everything, even pointless purchases such as ‘a new phone case…new coat…lip balm’.  In his attempt to be positive he’ll get more done before eight a.m, he’ll ‘stop being self-conscious [and] start listening to Keane again’.  Hopefully he won’t delete Instagram though, as he regularly posts short stories – which can be found at danielpiperwords – and are enjoyed by his 12,000+ followers, some of his adoring fans were in the FTRW audience.

Our host began the second half with a poem she’d read on her wedding day to her husband who ‘always finds good in people’.  Ending with heartfelt gratitude: ‘so pleased you’re still listening’. Although it was a message to Dave, it was also a universal reminder to let the special people in our lives know how much we love, and we appreciate them.

Speed poet Stewart returned with an impressive poem about the environment.  ‘Companies don’t make water, they make plastic’ his poem persuaded us to be conscientious consumers and he skilfully weaved in the three audience choice themes.  Jess very kindly bought him a pint, although this isn’t a usual perk for speed poets, Stewart certainly deserved it for successfully stepping up to the challenge.

Neil, the next open micer, shared his swan song to poetry.  Before reading her beautiful poem I can See Colour with ‘rainbow plastered walls of support’ and her final poem addressed to her daughter, Abena thanked Jess for her time at FTRW during the course of her studies in Leicester and reminded us that Jess Green’s night is a ‘good place to find’ yourself as a poet and a poetry lover.

Asim the poet, a regular on the London poetry scene, shared a poem about bullying, in which the victim found the strength to ‘stand up’ and relied on his ‘loyal brother…the pen’.

A foot stomping, lap clapping drum roll introduced the raffle winners.  This month’s prizes were free tickets to April’s FTRW, a poetry collection, an exclusive Daniel Piper quote print and the collection from the final headliner of the night, the brilliant, Tina Sederholm.

Sederholm, who has won twenty poetry slams and received a 5* review at the Edinburgh festival, launched her reading with advice to parents who had just given birth to a poet.  There’s a ‘history of poetry in the family’ the speaker identifies the source of this ‘common mutation’.  ‘Poets are an idle lot’ the parents are warned; the poet will end up as a ‘creative writing teacher teaching other poets to be…creative writing teachers’.

Everything Wrong with You is Beautiful, the empowering title of Sederholm’s collection, is funny, endearing and urges us to embrace ourselves as we are and to have courage. Well, what would happen ‘if we put on our red dresses, what could we do?’  She asks us to consider.

In the lead up to Mother’s Day, Sederholm read a ‘Memo to Mothers’ that was initially written for her friends who are miracle working mothers that ‘the world would stop’ without, now Sederholm widely shares the poem as an important daily reminder that mothers ‘never let the department down’.

For a long time, Sederholm had a range of jobs and avoided being a poet, thankfully, she finally became a poet but then found herself apologising for it.  In her quest to stop worrying and by giving herself permission to be the brilliant poet she was born to be, Sederholm encourages and empowers us to ‘be more dog’.  ‘Please don’t be good’ she begs, instead ‘love like a dog/play like a dog’.  And if Ralph is anything to go by, that means love to the fullest, listen to your instincts and live a life of joy, happiness and curiosity.

The beginning of this month’s FTRW was touch and go, however, the atmosphere that Jess creates, and therefore magnetises to Upstairs at the Western, is another example of the poetry community pulling together, supporting each other and urging each other to live and write courageously and boldly.

To watch Jess’ touring show and keep up with the hastily written rewrites owing to the ever-changing political landscape and Brexit blunders, tickets are available: https://www.jessgreenpoet.com/a-self-help-guide for us all to support the amazing poet and playwright.

Find the Right Words returns to Upstairs at the Western on 17^th April with headliners Imogen Stirling and Joshua Seigal.  Book your tickets here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/leicester/upstairs-at-the-western/find-the-right-words-april/2019-04-17

I keep returning to this brilliant poetry night for its wonderful host, variety of open micers and highly acclaimed headliners.  Thanks, FTRW – another fantastic night!

 

February 2019 Find the Right Words Review

In the midst of the Comedy Festival, Upstairs at the Western – Leicester’s unique pub theatre venue – opened its doors to the monthly Find the Right Words poetry night that is considerately and meticulously organised by the wonderful host, brilliant poet & 2018 Slam Champion, Jess Green.

Each month, a poet volunteers to be the night’s speed poet, challenged with the task of writing a poem in an hour.  The audience were asked for three themes for Rosa, this month’s poet (who had a speedy last-minute entrance to the event).  FTRW audience choice topics were: ‘Pop Corn’, ‘Lighter Nights’ and ‘Rosa Being Late’.

Whilst Rosa headed to the bar for a first half of furiously fast writing, the audience united in their rapturous applause for the raffle prizes which consisted of a Yeats collection, donated by a local book group; two free tickets to next month’s FTRW; free pies from the pop-up vegan kitchen and a Jeremy Corbyn tote bag.

Unfortunately, for Jess Green, who is a dedicated Labour supporter and has just released dates for a six-month tour of her show A Self Help Guide to Being in Love with Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party has just torn itself apart and the tote bag was possibly the least favourite prize.  However, we were lucky enough to hear Jess read a brilliant piece from the show that revealed her sharp observations and humour. Furthermore, the show has received fantastic feedback in its early viewings, has been to the Edinburgh festival and is supported by the Arts Council so it’s well worth watching whatever happens in the forthcoming politically turbulent months ahead. Tour dates and tickets are available: https://www.jessgreenpoet.com/a-self-help-guide for us all to support the poet and playwright.

I was first up on the open mic slot and read two poems, Picture Postcard and Sunlight, from my collection Core.

The first headliner, Nadia Malik, whose collection Venus Shells published in 2018 by Burning Eye Books, shared her harrowing and healing poems.  Malik is an English-Indonesian poet, art therapist and single mother whose work explores trauma, identity and home.  Malik is at the early stage of her career and is an example of Burning Eye’s courage and brilliance as they support and publish emerging (in the true sense of the word) writers and performers.  This is the ‘never knowingly mainstream’ approach that Clive Birnie, one of the publisher’s founding members, spoke of at the 2019 Verve Poetry Festival and has secured them a place on the shortlist for the inaugural Nibbies ‘Small Press of the Year’ award.

Malik’s first poem Home speaks of London and finding its ‘strangeness of strangers familiar’. In Crash, she observes the ‘roots through cracks’ on London’s streets and speaks of ‘boys’ who ‘bleed’ ‘willingly and unwillingly’ ‘like girls do’, whilst her second poem referred to an Indonesian creation myth intertwining images of nature with her grandparents.

Malik admits to feeling vulnerable in writing about trauma, however, her courageous and cathartic poems, such as Untouchable, where she ‘learnt’ ‘touch’ ‘is not always soft’ and her poem Colour in which ‘he’ ‘pours…grey’ ‘paint into me’ to which she turned ‘blue’ and the incident removed ‘organs she learned to live without’ may inspire others to be brave.

I look forward to reading more work from this poet as her career develops.

After raffle tickets had been purchased during the break – sold by Jess this month as her helpful husband and talented musician, Dave, was ill for the first time in years (get well soon!) – Jess opened the second half with another piece from her show.  ‘Don’t let me down, Jeremy’ Jess and many in the party beg of the Labour leader.

Rosa came back with her funny Popcornality is the Thief of Time speed poem.  One of the open micers, Charles Wheeler, delivered a powerful poem about Asperger’s.  It’s a syndrome named after Hans Asperger who collaborated with the Nazis and ‘endorsed’ and ‘approved’ the despicable killing of children.  The ‘solidarity’ Charles feels with other people like him is an ‘unlikely victory’.  In the poem, Charles says ‘goodbye’ to the ‘two word starting point’, the ‘name I no longer need’.  On the 5^th June, Rosa and Charles will be performing their own poetry show at the same venue, so please go along to support these talented writers.

It was great to see new open micers at the event.  Notable performances from Jemima, who flawlessly delivered a poem about mental health; the ever stylish Rubies and Duels shared a poem about getting older – ‘at 18 I knew everything’ on the night she offered ‘three tentative truths’; Loz, whose sense of humour and rhymes made everyone laugh; Paige, a university student who is ‘getting closer’ to the life she wants to live; John, warned millennials that their children may ‘save us’ alternatively ‘they’ll ** it up like we did’; Alan and Steve shared their rhymes about a holiday in Norfolk and a futuristic visitor respectively.

The final headliner of the night was the brilliant Tyrone Lewis! Roundhouse Slam Champion, Barbican Young Poet, film maker, photographer, he performs across the country and is a ‘Pop-Culture Powerhouse of a poet’.  The themes in his collection Blackish, that will be published by Burning Eye books in July 2019, focus on race and identity.

As a teenager the music of Avril Lavigne was popular, however, Lewis now thinks that some of the lyrics are less than good.  In a Cambridge writing workshop, he used Skater Boy to demonstrate this point.  Music of Childish Gambino also inspired a poem he created for the R.A.P Party for which he was invited by the incredible Inua Ellams and brilliant Theresa Lola to perform.  The poem, which links to the title of his collection, repeats ‘not black enough’ whilst deconstructing the stereotypes of the black identity.

During the collation of his collection, Lewis noted a common thread of ‘dad poems’ and read Dinner with Gary. Noting the irony of writing so much about someone that he hadn’t spoken to for years, he read a beautiful poem about his mum who loves ‘bigger than the love she receives’ and who ‘taught him sarcasm before [he] knew how to walk’.  Lewis is another example of a young black boy raised by a ‘super hero’ mother and becoming a successful young man with an exciting career ahead of him.

Lewis’ final poems were about things that make him angry (mainly vegan poets) and, owing to the calibre of poets he is lucky enough to work with, his feelings of having imposter syndrome that’s lead him to being ‘intimate with doubt’ but ultimately spurs him on to ‘sharpen every letter’.

You can catch Lewis at his own Boomerang Club poetry night in Hammersmith, London on the 2^nd  Wednesday of every month, then you can go to FTRW on the 3^rd Wednesday of every month at Upstairs at the Western in Leicester.  Unfortunately, the clue is in the name and due to the nature of the building there isn’t a lift to the theatre.  However, the helpful and accommodating staff do support people with mobility needs and will give early access to the auditorium.  On 20^th March Daniel Piper and Tina Sederholm will be the FTRW headliners. I keep returning to this brilliant poetry night for its wonderful host, variety of open micers and great atmosphere.  Thanks, FTRW – another awesome night!

With Brexit and May surviving her vote of no confidence, as the backdrop to the first FTRW of 2019, the wonderful host, brilliant poet and 2018 Slam Champion, Jess Green, opened the evening by encouraging the audience to share some much-needed good news.

Katie, one of the night’s open micers who shared a poem about religious trauma and homophobia in which the narrator felt ‘numb’ and ‘stifled’, shared that funding has been approved for a new project – well deserved for such a talented writer and performer.  The awesome FTRW audience were delighted to share this fantastic news.

Jess Green performed ‘National Average’ an important, honest and skilfully delivered poem about education that the teacher/poet headliners and I surely recognise as an issue in schools.

I was the first open mic performer of the night and shared two poems: Mother and I Am = To She from my collection Core.  Next up, a poet who is also a dab hand at a Rubik’s Cube, delivered a poem about self-deprecated love with ‘trust’ that ‘tied in knots’, followed by a political poem.

Abena-Essah Bediako’s poem about mental health, was hopeful as she encouraged ‘compassionate me’ to prevail.  Her poem, Birthday Song negotiated childhood memories, Magic FM hits and Ghanaian songs to beautifully speak and sing her own ‘cultural navigation’.

The first headliner of the night has been named as one of Birmingham’s 30 under 30, has two collections Waiting at Bloomsbury Park and Adjusted, is a teacher, senior leader and has recently completed an RSC residency to write a play, the very busy and very brilliant Casey Bailey.

Casey’s flawless conversational style puts the audience at ease allowing him to deliver his carefully crafted poems about grief, abuse and mental health.  Casey’s care and compassion shines through in Skater Girl as he speaks of the need to ‘listen’ to those abused and allow them to ‘scream’ or ‘talk’. Soup is a beautiful poem about Casey’s gorgeous son with subtle observations of family life.  Whilst his poem about National Trust properties comments on the hypocrisy of signs saying: ‘Do Not Touch’ when items in these properties have often been ‘stolen’. Casey was equally baffled that some items on his recent visit had been ‘built to look broken’ to replicate ancient ruins. Casey ended his set with Multiple Choice, a poignant poem about suicide.  I admire Casey’s courage to speak his truth which never fails to have an impact on his audience.  I urge you to buy his collection Adjusted published by Verve Poetry Press, then see him live for a funny, thought-provoking and accomplished performance.

Jess Green opened the second half with Restart a poem she has shared with students as part of a project in rural Derbyshire.  Charged with the task of motivating disengaged students her poem reflected their disillusionment, punctuated with advice from hindsight, that time passes, restarts aren’t always possible and there are girls in the world who are desperately trying to get an education.  Another insightful performance from our host.

Synthia was next on the open mic slot and read a poem to ‘deliver’ her from the memory of someone she’d hoped to forget and a new poem about liminality.  Followed by the stylish speed poet, Rubies and Jewels, who was given three topics at the start of the first half and she returned with an impressive and funny poem in the second half about ‘being eighteen’, ‘a dog’s birthday party’ and ‘a cat’.

Then came the drum roll for THE raffle.  The front row winning tickets did well to be picked to win book bundles and free tickets.

The funny, relatable and wildly talented poet, 2018 Coach SLAM winner, teacher and artist, Hannah Swings, ended the evening with a set reading from her brilliantly titled collection: This Dress Has Pockets.  Not only did I love Hannah’s delivery of her poems, her conversational tangents gave context to her poetry and connection to the audience, two of the many reasons to see poets live at this fantastic monthly event.  Hannah plays with form, style and structure on the page as she turned the book on its side to read.  It’s Hannah’s exciting creativity that made me want to buy her collection, furthermore, it makes me want to explore her artwork.

Snobs could be described as a Brum poem, however, with sticky carpets, ‘girls’ and ‘lads/who think they’re men’ in every town, to me, this is a national club anthem, complete with playlist running down the page.  I appreciated the nineties nostalgia and enjoyed reminiscing with Hannah.  Another awesome Verve Poetry Press success to buy, read, love and laugh with.

Thank you to Burning Eye Books for supporting the event, Upstairs at the Western for a unique theatre space, and thanks to Jess Green for running FTRW.  It’s such a great night and a good atmosphere to share the eclectic mix of poetry, poets and speed poem topics.

Book your tickets for the next Find the Right Words on 20^th February.

Standing in the queue at Birmingham’s branch of Waterstones, I checked my ticket for the event (again).  It was only then I realised that I booked back in August – two months in advance to secure a seat at this incredible Verve event.

Hosting the evening was Casey Bailey, an amazing poet and hilarious host.  Bailey did an excellent job and I’m looking forward to reading his collection ‘Adjusted’.

Next up THE Cynthia Miller.  Her beautiful poems about identity and homesickness were subtly powerful.  She’s also incredibly creative and innovative.  Her final cutting room floor poem, consisted of words and phrases that had been edited out of another poem.  Although they didn’t make the final cut elsewhere, in this poem they had their own meaning, took on their own life and created their own impact.

I first briefly met Roy McFarlane at Raymond Antrobus’ ‘The Perseverence’ book launch when I was holding the flowers: https://wendyliciouswriters.com/random-act-of-kindness/ During the Q & A Roy asked Raymond about the shape, form and page structure of his poems, in his booming, soulful deep voice.  To hear his beautiful voice read his own poetry at the Terrance Hayes event was amazing.  Looking forward to the launch of his next collection ‘The Healing Next Time’.

After an evening of incredible poetry and incredible poets in their own right, Terrance Hayes took to the stage.  Hayes asked for no clapping between each section and each poem he read – this helped him, and the audience, to keep in the flow of his work and his reading.  However, I almost had to sit on my hands to resist the urge to clap or click.

Hayes’ poetry speaks of identity, what it is to be a black man – a black man in America.  His poetry is also fiercely political.  His wit seeps through his poems making the audience smile or laugh but pulls you back in right to the serious and important points he makes.

Terrance Hayes began by reciting two of Wanda Coleman’s poems, saying that his own poetry seeks to reach that level.  In my opinion, Terrance Hayes has reached – if not surpassed – that to which he is writing towards.

The subjects within his poems could become one area for admiration and analysis but it is the form and structure of the poems in the collection ‘American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin’ that must be admired and analysed too.

The opening lines of each poem become a poem themselves; Hayes brushed this off as ‘I like to play with the contents page too’.  His contents page becomes a smack you around the head with a powerful point that makes you nod and suppress a clap or click.  His contents page makes you laugh.  His contents page makes you remember love and loss.  His contents page makes reminds you why you fell in and out of love.

Question: ‘What do you call a visionary?’

Answer: Terrance Hayes.

Raymond Antrobus: ‘The Perseverance’ and ‘To Sweeten Bitter’

Raymond Antrobus’ ‘Jamaican British’ is the poem that introduced me to this incredible poet and resonates with me and my experiences.  The poem and its poet speak of and understand the betweenness of being both Jamaican and British – as I am.

Antrobus’ book launch for his first collection, ‘The Perseverance’ published by Penned in the Margins, took place at The Rep Theatre as part of the Birmingham Literature Festival.   Clare Edwards took centre stage with Antrobus to sign his poems, often he would ask Clare to stand in front of him as he read.   As a poet who is also deaf, his poetry courageously tells of his experiences of hearing, not hearing, and not being heard.  ‘Dear Hearing World’ is not only beautifully laced with metaphors but also a powerful wake up call to the hearing world.

Braver still, Antrobus confronts Ted Hughes with a powerful extended metaphor in ‘After Reading ‘Deaf School’ by the Mississippi River’.  Antrobus’ discussion with the brilliant Jane Commane about this poem, and revisionist poetry in general, reminded me of the importance of looking back with honesty not nostalgia at other writers and even at history itself.

Raymond Antrobus is a brave, honest, humble and inspiring poet.  It was a privilege to be in the audience and to have the opportunity to thank him in person during his book signing.

‘The Perseverance’ is a MUST borrow or buy!

Lemn Sissay: ‘Rebel Without Applause’ and ‘Something Dark’

In May, Lemn Sissay gave a talk at the University of Leicester, titled ‘Landmark Poems’.  During the seventh annual Creative Writing Lecture, Sissay shared his life story, and his incredible poetry, some of which is painted and carved onto buildings and important landmarks.  Lemn Sissay’s humour, courage, and honesty are entertaining and endearing.  I found his talk, his poetry and his personality inspiring and empowering.

Borrow or buy a copy of any (or all) of his collections – I regularly revisit his work, it’s an investment buy.  If you ever have the chance to hear Lemn speak or read his poems or deliver his powerful speeches,  you MUST attend.  Get tickets, travel, be there.

Better still, if you can get involved in organising one of his Christmas celebrations, do so.  Lemn has created a comprehensive guide to set up and organise an event.  If anyone in the Midlands is up for this, please get in touch with me.

I can only dream of attending one of his workshops or courses, if you can afford to or if you can apply for a grant to do so, you must.  There are also clips on YouTube and he is on social media too, so follow, read and be inspired.

Hay Festival 2018

Finding accommodation was tricky, but thanks to a computer glitch I managed to secure a booking at an idyllic family BnB.  After brilliant directions and a very warm welcome, I set off for my first Hay Festival event – Akala’s Odyssey.

Having studied Homer’s The Odyssey at university and I watched Akala’s BBC programme in the spring, I was looking forward to his talk in the BBC tent.  I decided not to opt for the member option when booking.  Although this meant slightly longer queuing time, it was a great opportunity to talk to other people who had signed up for the same events – immediately you had a common interest to discuss.  Hopefully, the programme is still on iplayer, if so you should definitely check it out.

Later that evening, I attended Akala’s talk about his new book ‘Natives’.  A powerful and informative book – a must read.

Between Akala’s talks, I went to Afua Hirsch‘s talk that was promoting her book ‘Brit(ish)’.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but finally I found a woman that I could connect to and who spoke honestly about her experiences of race and being Brit(ish).  I did comment to an audience member that I often wondered if Afua Hirsch would receive as much media and online hate as she does if she was a man.  The book is on my ‘Wendylicious to Read’ pile – looking forward to it.

At 10pm the final slot for my first night was the brilliant Benjamin Zephaniah.  Having read and taught his work for years, it was great to hear him talk about his life, perform his poems and discuss his brilliant new book ‘The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah’.  I borrowed a copy from the library and it is a good read – borrow or buy asap to learn more about the man behind the poetry and young adult books.

 

 

Every Wednesday is a Wendylicious Wednesday!  Each week, I will post a weekly writing challenge for you to complete.  These weekly challenges will give you ideas as a starting point for a new poem, story, paragraph in the novel you’re currently working on or it could become the opening paragraph to the book you’ve always wanted to write.

It would be great to share your Wendylicious Writing with our community of Wendylicious Writers, so post in the comments section, email me at: wendyliciouswriters@hotmail.com or join as a Gold Member to receive feedback on the task.