The Importance Of Spoken Word (mentioned in The House Of Lords by Baroness 'Maggie Jones')

Source - http://www.labourlords.org.uk/talent-shows

In Picture above : Peter Kahn, Holy Family Students, Baroness Maggie Jones & Spoken Word educators (Raymond Antrobus, Dean Atta, Indigo WIlliams, Keith Jarrett, Pete The Temp & Cat Brogan)   

Maggie Jones on the importance of spoken word skills to help young people realise their aspirations.

One of the joys of being in Labour’s Education team is the chance to get out and about, visiting schools and being inspired by the enthusiasm of pupils and teachers alike.

Last week, I attended Holy Family School in Waltham Forest – a multi-cultural secondary school experimenting with writing and performing poetry as a means of nurturing confidence, creativity and self expression. The result was outstanding – a room full of articulate, funny, thoughtful young people excited about what they had, and could, achieve. Sitting in the audience I had no doubt that any employer would be impressed by the skills these young people had learned.

I will be raising the importance of such skills in a Lords debate on the importance of preparing young people for the world of work. We already know that the CBI and Federation of Small Businesses are desperate for young people to have better ‘soft’ skills such as communication, collaboration and problem solving. Yet the government is driving education in the opposite direction, with an obsession on cramming facts, working in isolation and sitting traditional exams. As part of this move spoken word skills have been removed from the English curriculum.

We have previously warned Ministers about the dangers of giving schools responsibility for careers advice without any resources or expertise, and it would be interesting to understand whether they – and indeed the Department for Education – believe the changes to have been consequence free. A recent report from the Commons Education Select Committee on this issue paints a horror story of poor training and advice, with teachers pressurising young people to stay on in the Sixth Form at all costs to improve the school budget. In response, the government said that careers provision was a matter for individual schools – something that the Chair of the Committee rightly described as an abdication of responsibility.

The result of such inaction from Ministers is reflected in a recent report from Pearson which discovered that over a third of young people relied on TV programmes to help them decide on careers, with and one in ten girls looking to celebrities for inspiration.

With a dwindling job market, we must give young people the best preparation available to have any chance of success. The Coalition’s failed economic policies have resulted in youth unemployment rates of over 20%, with more than a million not in education, employment or training. We can help by realigning their aspiration to the types of jobs that will be generated over the next two decades, many of which may not even exist today. Some of these jobs will be in the creative, innovation and high tech industries. But the CBI has also identified a critical lack of skills in the manufacturing, construction and engineering sectors – all of which could be drivers for future growth in the economy. Yet our education system is failing to address these new demands.

This is why Labour is putting renewed emphasis on the importance of vocational education to match the best academic provision, supported by quality apprenticeships. The new technical exam announced today is welcome, but it is a belated gesture towards something we have long argued for. And we will continue to criticise the government’s backward looking curriculum changes, which fail to meet young people’s aspirations and provide the gold standard skills needed to create a modern, thriving economy. It is the least we can do for those talented pupils I met at Holy Family School.

Baroness Maggie Jones of Whitchurch is a member of Labour’s Shadow Education team in the Lords

Published 4th July 2013

Up Coming Poetry Shows - Plus Quote 'EARLY BIRD' for Discounted Chill Pill tickets!

15th March (Southampton) w/ Matt West

21st March, Chill Pill perform at Hit The Ode (Birmingham)

22nd March, Chill Pill & Anthony Anaxagorou perform at Waxing Lyrical in Brighton

Very much looking forward to performing at these nights across the UK this March. Other news is my book of poems, 'Shape & Disfigurement' is now being stocked at Southbank's Poetry Library, you can order a copy for your own library here -

http://burningeyebooks.wordpress.com/our-books/shapes-disfigurements-of-raymond-antrobus/

Also, if you have a minute could you vote for Chill Pill as 'Best Regular Spoken Word Night', 'Shapes & Disfigurements' as best pamphlet and any performer you've seen at Chill Pill for Best Spoken Word Artist for the Saboteur Awards 2013? -

http://sabotagereviews.com/2013/03/01/saboteur-awards-2013/

http://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/926/Spoken-Word/Chill-Pill:-The-Big-One

Book and quote 'EARLY BIRD' for your discounted tickets to 'The Big One' on May 23rd with poets from some of the best regular poetry nights in London.

Featuring:

Live music from Benin City (Poejazzi)

Chris Redmond (Tongue Fu)

Kat  Francois (Word 4 Word)

Dean Atta (Come Rhyme With Me) 

 

Anthony Anaxagorou (Outspoken)

BOOK TICKETS HERE - http://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/926/Spoken-Word/Chill-Pill:-The-Big-One or call Box Office - 0208 692 4446

How Spoken Word In Education Is Changing The Landscape For Modern Poets

This year Goldsmith University launched their first Spoken Word Education module as part of the Teacher / Writer MA program and I’ve been lucky enough to be one of the six London Spoken Word poets piloting it. The other five are Indigo Williams, Keith Jarrett, Dean Atta, Cat Brogan and Pete The Temp – If you know your Spoken Word poets you’ll be familiar with these names.

Since September we’ve been going into a secondary school in East London and leading lessons on poetry and performance as well as setting up a Spoken Word poetry after school club which had over eighty sign ups from years 7, 8 and 9.

Peter Kahn coordinates the program, a teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Chicago. He runs the largest school-based spoken word club in the world and is featured in the award-winning documentary Louder Than a Bomb. 

The project is also partnered by some of the UK’s leading institutions and organisations such as Apples and Snakes, Avron and Spread the word. 

We challenge the idea that “poems are old fashioned and have to rhyme” and we get students talking and writing from their personal experiences to generate poetry in their own voices. Many teachers have already given positive feedback about the impact of having poets in their school. Some students really open up in their poetry and it can get emotional. This has been a good way to hear the kids that are calling for help. Ultimately we have a lot of fun with language, performance games and watching the kids develop as young poets. We’re all coming across more and more talented young poets and we call it our mission to nurture talent and give poets higher platforms to aspire to. This will change the landscape of Spoken Word and poetry for a new generation. 

I didn’t discover Spoken Word until I was twenty but if a quality poet came into my school when I was fourteen I definitely would have been hooked sooner.

Some of the top Spoken Word Educators in the country including Jacob Sam La Rose, Simon Mole, Polarbear, Charlie Dark and Hollie McNish all make a living mentoring young poets and improving the standards of Spoken Word poetry nationwide.

The more exposure top quality poets receive the more impact Spoken Word poetry will make as an art form.

If you know of any schools that would be interested in setting up a Spoken Word Club please contact : mrpkahn@hotmail.com

MA in Spoken Word at Goldsmith Uni / Photography Exhibition / Kwame Daws / Keats House / Germany Tour Schedule / Chill Pill

Myself, Keith Jarret, Pete The Temp, Indigo Williams, Catherine Brogan and Dean Atta have been enrolled at Goldsmith's University to do a MA in Writing/Teaching and Spoken Word Education. The programme is pioneered by a teacher/ poet I met in Chicago two years ago called Peter Khan.

Keith Jarret & Cat Brogan

I left school with three GCSE's to my name and never bothered with a degree, but after seeing this opportunity to work in schools and get a MA that involved Spoken Word Poetry I pushed for it hard. I was interviewed by three Goldsmith's Professors in English and Creative Writing, the head of a secondary school, Apples and Snakes and other teachers of poetry who selected us as the final six.

Pete The Temp

This is quite a big deal as its an academic acknowledgement of Spoken Word as an art form and an actual genre of poetry. Spoken Word and Slam poetry has been consistently written off by poets, writers and journalists who solely commit to the literary traditions of poetry and choose to dismiss Spoken Word as performance art/theatre.

Poets such as Roddy Lumsden, Bohdan Piasecki, Niall O'Sullivan, Nii Parkes Mista Gee and Hollie McNish have advocated for Spoken Word Poetry, giving it more visibility/credibility over the years. Hollie launched her own Spoken Word In Education company, Mista Gee hosted a five series run of Bespoken Word on BBC Radio, Roddy encourages poets to engage on stage and attacked an Oxford Professor Of Poetry for saying "Spoken Word Poetry is unimportant" in The Guardian. Niall and Nii are part of the publishing house 'Flipped Eye' who have published poets known for their performances such as Inua Ellams, Zena Edwards, Roger Robsinson, Malika Booker, Nick Makoha etc. Bohdan Piasecki has featured on BBC Radio performing his work and speaking on the value and skill of being a Spoken Word poet with Ian Macmillan. He also runs one of the best poetry nights in the country called 'Hit The Ode' in Birmingham.

All of us feel honoured to be piloting this course and we hope it will help establish greater appreciation of poetry and spoken word. We enrol next Monday.

                                                    Rhyming Thunder Anthology

                    
Excited to have three of my poems featured in this new anthology alongside poets such as Tshaka Campbell, Simon Mole, Adam Kammerling, Deanna Rodger, Rob Auton and much much more. The book was launched in Bristol last week and is launching in London on Wednesday 26th at the Battersea Mess & Music Hall. 7.30pm.

                                'The Coloured Experience' Photography Exhibition

The Coloured Experience 

I have a photography exhibition launching between 1st - 7th October at The Albany. It's part of the AfroVibes Festival. I'll be doing a talk/performance in the space on Thursday 4th so please come down to that. A travel journal I wrote in South Africa has been published and will be for sale on site.

JAM 50!

Mervyn Morris

Jamaican poets Kwame Dawes & Mervyn Morris are reading in London and I'm honoured to be on the bill alongside them.

Kwame Daws

                       
Details
Tuesday 2 October
7pm – 9.30pm
£20 / £12 conc

Geffrye Museum
136 Kingsland Road
Shoreditch
London E2 8EA
Nearest Station: Hoxton (London Overground)

http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/index.php?id=events&event=1129

Keats House Poets Forum 
Sunday 14th October
2pm - 4pm (FREE)

Kayo Chingonyi

After the brilliant screening of 'We Are Poets' last month, we return to our regular high quality open mic and feature poet. This month Kayo Chingonyi whom featured in 'The Salt Book Of Younger Poets' and brought out his own poetry book, 'Some Bright Elegance' earlier this year will be reading at the house.

Germany Poetry Tour

Lars Ruppel & Sebastian 23

I'm super excited to be touring my poetry across Germany from 22nd October - 2nd November 2012.

Here's the tour schedule of the areas I'm performing in so far.

Oct

22nd Frankfurt
23rd Marburg
24th Gießen
25th Freiburg
26th Kressbronn (with Lars Ruppel)
27th Unna
28th Leverkusen
29th  TBC
30th Cologne
31st Münster
Nov

1st Herne

and of course...

Chill Pill
at The Albany on 27th September, Soho Theatre at 15th October & Albany on 29th November.

http://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/845/Spoken-Word/Chill-Pill

                                          P.S.
                                   it's been a great summer of festivals... until next year!

New Poetry Project / "I Am Nobody's Nigger" by Dean Atta/ Dialectics by Anthony Anaxagorou/Simon Mole Sells Out

I am working on a new little poetry project with a friend who is a brilliant musician and singer called 'Alex Patten'. This is our first collaborative effort. Let me know what you think... More to come.



One of the Keats House Forum poets 'Dean Atta' got his poem on SB.TV after two of the suspects in the Stephan Lawrence case were convicted of his murder.



Also, Anthony Anaxagorou's poem 'Dialectics' makes more powerful social commentary.



Finally, Chill Pill's Simon Mole SOLD OUT his brilliant one man show at The Albany and it's not even on for another two weeks. That's a testimony for the spoken word art form if there ever was one!

See you at Chill Pill this coming Monday!

Q&A with London and Birmingham based poet and Spoken Word Artist - Deanna Rodger

In my first ever performance in a Slam Poetry contest, I was shouty, monotone and over-animated but I somehow reached the ‘Farrago UK Slam final’ head to head with the energetic, loose canon ball that is Deanna Rodger.

Deanna has this charm she carries to the stage, her nerves hold her face in the widest but shyest of smiles. You don’t quite expect to witness the breakage of a storm... but you do... and I take no shame in losing that final to such a wild force of nature.

She has this way with stretching out a multi-syllabic metaphor and delivering four lines in one breath while steering you through the heavy winds of emotion contained in the voice of her poems.

She’s a natural and unconsciously pulls off some of the finest crafted Spoken Word poetry London has to offer.

Q. Yo Dee! Remember when we met? How the hell did you end up at the Farrago Slam that night?

Dean Atta who was my sort of mentor at the time told me to go down and do it, so I did!

Q. I was so amazed when you said you don’t read much poetry and you couldn’t name many poets – where on earth does your fire come from?

I could name a poet I just didn’t have an interest in it! I have always been a bookworm and still read an awful lot, but I didn’t read poetry unless I was in a classroom. To be honest poetry found me, I never thought of myself as a poet and I certainly wasn't searching for it. I think I have always had something to say but was never really able to speak it with sense. Poetry was a safe way to do that.


Q. Got a favorite poet yet?

Ah I'm ready for this question!! I got given a book of the entire collection of Langston Hughes and I am enjoying it, I even memorized a quote! I try not to have favorites. I don't think I've seen enough (defiantly have not read enough) to put a name in paper. Though there is a sonnet by Shakespeare I really like.

Q. I know you are uncertain about whether you can have financial stability and an active career in Spoken Word – would you believe me if I said in ten years time poetry is going to make us RICH!?

Yeah I would! I have no doubt that there are a lot of young people that see a Market stall for poetry. However I have to ask myself whether I want to rely on an industry that has the attention span of a toddler? As much as I would love poetry to become more lucrative, I would prefer it to stay beautiful rather than turn into a competitive brawl of people calling themselves poets because they exploit humor, shallow clichés and rhyming couplets to win the crowd.

Q. You have got into events organizing; you did the Lyric Lounge with Dean Atta, which was a big night! How’s that movement going?

It's grown and left home! We are focusing on a new night called 'come rhyme with me' which launches on the 30th July and features some of the hottest fiercest talent in the scene. Excitingly Bothyself and Dean (Atta) are associate producers of a festival in association with Richmond MENCAP called Play at the Waterfront which will be on the 7th August. I've also linked up with you and Mista Gee to organize a more accessible weekly evening 'Chill Pill' which is a beautiful thing! I'm trying to try everything. I'm young, I'm still learning. Luckily I have got some very good supportive and inspiring people around me!

Q. Where do you see yourself in 4 years?

Lord knows his plan for me; I can't be trusted with it just yet! I can only hope to be more everything than what I am now.

Q. Spoken Word has taken you all over the nation and to parts of Europe – Germany, France etc how has travelling influenced your performance and writing?

(smiles!) I think this question is better suited for a conversation! In short though, travelling has shown me that there is no limit to what you can write and perform! The slammers in Germany are very performy! And it definitely makes their performance universal. In France I was lucky to see a world of talent and styles and I would say that although I'm still writing from me, I feel like I am a richer writer able to draw from different societies. Visiting different lands also helps me to put my own life into perspective and reflect.

Q. If you have kids would you like them to follow your footsteps as a Spoken Word artist– if that is what you pursue?

I will have kids! And obviously I would love for them to be writers and to be creative but that could be in anything they love. I don't want to put ceilings over my kids. Boundaries yes, but not ceilings.

Q. Finally, you’re sick, and the London Spoken Word circuit needs you – you know that right?

Ahh that's nice! I don't know about need me. I think that's a bit too much pressure, I think I am good at what I do and I love what I do, I just want to do my bit, encourage other young talented writers, have fun, make friends, create experience, make money and a name then bounce and make space for the younger’s!