Q&A with London and Brighton based Spoken Word artist - Simon Mole

Simon Mole calls himself a Spoken Word artist, an emcee and a Hip-Hop Theatre artist. I first met Simon in 2008 at an Apples and Snakes open mic gig. He gave me his CD and I gave it a listen. It was all UK Hip-Hop and was in the same vein as many of the UK Rappers I’d known about such as Task Force, Brain Tax, Jhest etc. Although his overall individual talent was evident; I was most interested in his lyrics. I bumped into him again in 2009 at a writing workshop with Jean Binta Breeze and we clicked. He’s one of the hungriest, raw talented Spoken Word artists I know and he’s going to blow! Trust me!

Yo Simon! You legend! Introduce yourself!

Errr… yeah… I’m Simon. I’ve got a skinhead at the moment, but I only got it done because I had to. Me and my mate Josh have been making a video for a piece I wrote called ‘the say yes think no syndrome’ and if you ever get to see it you’ll understand why I had to get the clippers out. Suffice to say, a short back and sides with a bowl cut over the ears probably isn’t a good look once the need to retain it for continuity purposes has passed…

Q. You came to Spoken Word as a UK Hip-Hop emcee; do you find you’ve become more of a Spoken Word artist these days?

Yeah I do man, definitely. It’s taken me a fair while to feel comfortable defining myself in that way, and I still sometimes feel a bit self-conscious about calling myself a poet. But basically I think it’s pretty crucial to be actively and consistently doing something if you’re going to put yourself out there as that thing – simply looking at what I’ve written and what gigs I’ve done in the last year or so it’s pretty clear to me that I’m more of a spoken word artist than an emcee right now…

That said, rap is poetry, and all genre distinctions are meaningless. Ha ha! I’m not normally one for sweeping statements like that but fuck it, labels can be helpful if you put together event listings or own a record shop but beyond that fuck em. I was at this college the other day about to start a gig/workshop thing for about 200 14 year olds and I kicked off by asking them what they thought of poetry - out of the ‘like’, ‘think it’s ok’, and ‘think it’s rubbish’ options I gave them, the vast majority went for ‘think it’s rubbish’ which was funny but kind of mad really. And then I asked them if they liked rap music and most of them did – when I told them I thought rap was poetry they all looked at me like I was a complete lunatic… I mean I’m not saying 50 cent is on some Ted Hughes shit, and to be fair that kind of mainstream rap is probably what them kids are listening to, but still I mean by broadening their idea of what might be poetry surely there’s the chance of opening the idea for them that poetry of any kind might speak to them on some level, and once you’ve done that who’s to say they won’t actually get into something they might not have otherwise…

Anyway, I digress, so yeah, I AM A POET, and now ousted as such to anyone smart enough to read your wonderful blog Ray.

Q. Your work is sharp in observation and touches the rawest nerves of our human habits – is this technique something you developed or something you naturally discovered was within your ability?

Thanks man. It’s a good time for me to hear you to say that, because lately I’ve been getting the fear a little bit that my work isn’t poetic enough whatever that means, because even though I know there’s poetry inherent in the everyday shit around us which I tend to focus on, I do wish I found myself coming up more often with those wildly poetic images that just seem to pour out of some people. But yeah, I’ve worked on my technique man, of course, so maybe I just need to hone up my ‘wildly poetic image’ abilities now! That said, I should probably also stay strong in my belief that by selecting certain details of that everyday stuff and presenting them with enough space for people to grow their own thought processes around the work, poetry that observes those tiny, important and often unnoticed details can impact in a big way too, just via a different route.

Pushing myself to develop my writing was something I was finding hard to do through music for a while, and through spoken word I started thinking a lot about sensory observational stuff and did hone that skill up intentionally I guess, off the back of a few workshops like that one you mentioned, and just thinking about what I thought was good in the writing that I liked by other people.

I think I work quite visually, like quite often when I’m writing a piece I’ll have a particular place, or atmosphere or ‘feel’ associated to that place, in my mind as a kind of guide – if a line or idea doesn’t fit with the feel of that place then it doesn’t go in. Maybe kind of linked to that, I really enjoy writing using photos or film clips as kind of prompts or source material, a bit like I imagine a painter might if they want to create a realistic impression of a place, thing, person, whatever, even if they then move away from that realistic representation it’s good to have it as a foundation to start with.

I also do a lot of writing exercise man, from books and shit, sometimes to start something new off, or sometimes using little exercises I have myself for helping other people get through writing blocks in workshops, and just using them to help me get through my own blocks – it’s mad how long it took to think about doing that really, I remember Jonzi D saying to me I should think about how I approach teaching/supporting other people’s creative processes when creating my own stuff, I even plan myself little writing workshops sometimes man, with warms up and everything, I’m a proper geek for this shit, ha ha! Some people are a bit funny about exercises and that, like it should all just come to you natural in a spark of inspiration or something but I figure if you can do something you enjoy, and it will almost certainly improve your writing then surely you gonna jump on that right?! In fact, there’s one book you recommended me Ray, called ‘the practice of poetry’ which is quite a good one.

Q. I came to see your one man Spoken Word show at The Albany and you blew me away, it was genuinely amazing. Do you think one-man shows are the way forward for the Spoken Word genre?

They’re certainly the way forward for me at the moment man. I don’t know about for the genre as a whole man, I guess if everyone started doing one man shows instead of shorter pieces then maybe the market would get saturated or some shit, who knows? People should do it if they want to man, not to push the genre – if that’s your sole start point for making something I’m guessing it might not be so much fun… For me, making theatre, you know, devising new theatre that draws influences and methods from different art-forms has been something I’ve been into for years, and doing it like this is the most satisfying way of doing that for me right now. But as well as that, yeah, if some people within the spoken word ‘scene’ make some longer work, thinking more consciously about the theatrical side of it, and that then has an impact on other artists to think about their own work in a different way, or if in any way shows like say Inua Ellam’s thing being on at the national, mean that people become interested in spoken word who might not have otherwise then yeah that’s wicked. So in a way maybe it is pushing the genre so much as the genre exists at all in any concrete static way, just in terms of expanding what people think spoken word can be… But yeah, just read back your question and you didn’t even say pushing the genre at all, ah well…



Q. Where do you see yourself as a Spoken Word artist in five years?

Wow, tough question. It’s funny man because whenever I ask young people to do something like that, you know thinking about their life in five, ten years I always try to do it for myself as well at the same time to remind myself what a hard thing it is to do! I think I have an idea where I’d like to be, but the path to making a relatively stable and sustainable career as a writer is definitely an ongoing journey rather than one with a definite end point for most people.

For me, I guess to be in a position where the majority of my income comes from my own writing and performing would be amazing, mainly just because that would mean that the majority of conventional ‘work hours’ could be spent doing that type of thing, and also just because it would make me feel good. Then again I wouldn’t want to lose the education and community arts project stuff totally because I love it man. As of now, I feel genuinely lucky that I’m in a position where I’m able to make my living from a combination of writing, gigging and workshops you know what I mean? And regardless of the fact that most of my money comes from workshops really, I still manage to work it so a decent chunk of my Monday to Friday time is spent doing stuff I would actively want to do in my spare time around a ‘proper’ job if I still had one… I guess it’s good to appreciate where I am now, as well as aiming for stuff in the future you know, otherwise you can get somewhere and already be thinking about the next thing to the point that you don’t really appreciate the moment you just worked your arse off to get to. Haven’t answered that at all have I?!

Q. Can you tell us about the education/community projects you are currently involved in and how you got involved in running workshops initially?

My main focus on that front in the last few months has been a project for Guys and St Thomas’s charity which has involved me working with the porters at the hospital, getting them to write poetry. It’s been an amazing project man, they’re a safe bunch as well – they do such an important job, and in some ways it’s easy for that to go unnoticed within the hospital. The main aim of the project was to celebrate that good job they already do, by giving them a voice through the poetry they write – a lot of them had never done anything like it before but we ended up with contributions from seventeen members of their team in the end, some of them were proper good too! There’s going to be an exhibition of the poems in the atrium in the hospital which we’re launching on national poetry day in October, and this dope illustrator Jess Wilson is working with the poems so they’re going to look amazing too! You can check more on their website here:

http://www.gsttcharity.org.uk/arts/porterspoems.html

As for how I got involved in workshops, working with young people in some way has always been something I’ve done, kind of like my real job career path alongside my music and theatre stuff until they started to merge. And even way way back when I was in Brighton youth theatre as, well, a youth, we used to run workshops for other kids back then too, so it’s always been part of my creative process really if I think about it. Around the time I was at uni I did a lot of work with a drama therapist too for quite a while, which was pretty full on at points but definitely really rewarding, and taught me a lot about a lot of things. I guess I was in a position where by the time I started to think about wanting to get paid for running workshops, I’d already been doing it for ages in some way, you know, volunteering and work experience and just doing it for fun really man. The more poetry-based workshops have come along more recently, but particularly with them I really feel that breaking down how I create in order to try and give other people a route into writing for the first time has helped me grow my own writing too, in a way I might not have done otherwise… In some ways, maybe I’ve got more natural talent for teaching than writing so it can be a case of ‘teaching’ myself at points, which might sound like a kind of weird approach but it works for me!

Q. So then, would you say the educational route is the best way to find financial stability as a Spoken Word artist?

For me it certainly has been (up to the point that I am financially stable anyway!) and I think that it’s definitely a really amazing way to support yourself as an artist because you still get to do the thing that you love, well, help other people do it anyway- actually, that tiny distinction is why its so important to get the balance right man. If you just do ‘intro to hip hop’ workshops five days a week, pretty soon you’re going to be coming home not feeling like writing yourself you know? It’s a privilege to be able to run workshops for kids and get paid for it man, so it’s important to make sure your creatively satisfied yourself outside of that environment too.

Also, I guess it’s just not for some people, if you don’t like work with kids, or you get impatient if someone ‘doesn’t get it’ or you don’t like listening to slightly out of time 8 bar raps by 15 year olds then maybe not eh?!

I think for me, the way forward is targeting the type of work I try to get, like for instance this thing at guys involved a writing commission for me, and the whole thing stretched out over a few months so it afforded me a little stability as well being something that fulfilled me creatively as an artist as well an arts practitioner. I know it’s a small difference but being an artist or writer who runs education or community projects as well, is very different to being a teacher who tries to do their own shit on the side, you know what I mean? Happy to say I’m definitely in the first camp now, but I’ve had to work hard to make that transition and I’m aware that it’s a fluid thing that could change depending what work there is about.

Q. What gigs you got lined up?

I’m hosting a little homegrown festival that some good mates of mine put on in a very picturesque valley near Bath every year. It’s called Hamswell and is the friendliest a friendly little festival can be – if you’re free the weekend of 13th – 15th August and fancy some great music, workshops, local farm barbecues and some good old fashioned unhinged revelry then take a look at the website: www.hamswellfestival.com

Think I’m back at Chill Pill at the end of august too – props to you guys for that night man, definitely establishing itself nicely as a great place to try out and see new work, as well as a spot to see established artists for free, so yeah good work to y’all on that!

Also, September and October are looking exciting for me, really exciting actually – been waking up early some mornings and not being able to get back to sleep due to an excessively active ideas and plot-hatching portion of my brain! Basically, I’ve been redeveloping that spoken word show you saw at the albany in March – this time around it’s called ‘Indiana Jones and the extra chair’, I’m billing it as ‘the least dreaded family gathering of the year’ and a buffet supper will be provided inclusive of the ticket price, but I’m going to ask that in return people bring along their own memories of food-based family get-togethers…

Anyway, I’ve got the preview for it at The Freeword Centre on Friday September 17th, which is going to be free and a good chance for me to get some feedback on the material in a theatre space before doing a three night run of it in ‘the dinner room’ at a really cool traditional little pub called ‘the calthorpe arms’ on the Grays Inn Road. The dates for that are Wednesday 30th September, Thursday 31st September, and Friday1st October. Anyone interested should either hit me up on my myspace or email ticketsforthedinnerroom@yahoo.co.uk for more info…

Q. How can we access more of your work? – I just googled you and got a dead website about nothing!

Yeah, I know the website you mean and it is nothing to do with me man! I always fear people will check it out and think the cartoon of the dude in the west brom shirt, which he then takes off for some reason, is me. It’s not. I should have a website up in the not too distant future though, but a mate is putting together for me for free so it’s inevitably taking a little longer. Matthew Baker if you’re reading this, get your arse in gear man! So yeah, for now, my myspace page is the best place really – www.myspace.com/simonmole

Q&A With York and London based Spoken Word artist - Rob Auton

Rob Auton is from York.

I first met him at a poetry slam where he was disqualified for using props – I thought he was a genius straight away and felt his disqualification was part of the act. Once you made it into my books as a genius you get a license to get away with anything in my world- a bit like Phillip Seymour Hoffman when he gets an unlimited arts council ‘Genius’ grant in the film 'Synecdoche New York'...

Rob Auton is from York!

He was at PoeJazzi recently and I took a CD off him. I loved the way it was packaged in a little cardboard slip, stapled together with a child like drawing of what looked like a whale with a beak and little wings – bless him.

The CD was brilliant – 21 short satirical poems and short stories–

“I can tell by the look of her cat that she doesn’t like cats
I can tell by the look of her dog that she doesn’t like cats”

There was also a poem about a car spotter.

“I am a car spotter, my favorite type of traffic is jam”

I call this genius and that might make me a dunce! Who knows?

Q. Rob Auton, how are you, who are you and should we care?

I'm OK thanks. I'm writing this in the heart of an Internet cafe in Walthamstow. Not a hot drink in sight. There is however a vending machine, it's full but the light is off. Does that mean the drinks are luke warm? Yes, yes it does. 14 minutes of my 50p hour have passed.

Q. Are you comfortable with being called a Spoken Word poet? Do you see yourself this way?

Are you calling me a spoken word poet? If so, then yes I am comfortable with it. Nobody has ever called me that to my face. My iPod batteries have just run out. So I can now hear the tapping of these keys, and people talking on skype. The guy next to me is talking to his girlfriend, I can see her, but she can't see me. Or can she? No she can't. I’m not looking again. They are having a private conversation, what better place to have it than in an Internet cafe?

Q. What’s your work ethic as a poet/ writer and performer?

If I have an idea, I write it in my notepad or into my phone, whichever is in my pocket at the time. If it's an idea that I like and it keeps poking me in the centre of my forehead throughout the day, then I will work on it when I get home, or on my lunch break. Sometimes things work on themselves, other times I've got to do it. I like the ideas that come like ready meals and I've just got to heat them up with as little effort as possible. I want to get as much stuff down as as I can so I can go back to it and see if it is rubbish or not. Is that an ethic? I want to put things in people's heads that are not already there.

Q. How do poets make money?

Working in art shops in soho.

Q. You run a night called ‘Bang Said The Gun’? Is it successful by your own standards and what would you advise on someone who is starting out their own poetry night?

Since Bang Said The Gun went weekly in February it has really started to fizz. I jumped on the Bang wagon after it had been going for ten years, by that time, the guys that started it had cemented the spirit of it to have real guts. We keep trying to build it and add things every week to keep it fresh. I think you have got to have the audience at the front of your mind all the time, you can't put on a poetry night for you it has to be for the audience. Not that I put it on, I help to put it on. I think it’s important to be part of a team of people that you share a goal with.

Q. What is the future of poetry? Is there one?

The future of poetry is the people who feel the need to comment on this thing that we have all been born into. I remember one of your status updates saying something like "a lot of people have died in the past, we are the small few who are alive." It's true you know, all the people who are alive now, it's like we are on the front of a really wide train powered by the past and we are all clinging onto the front with the wind in our faces travelling into the future. Say you had a black rectangle that was 50 meters long and 5 meters high we would be the yellow millimeter at the right end. The future of poetry is people feeling that thing of going, ‘YEEEEAHH come on lets have it, pass me that pen, I want to WRITE about this stuff that going on’.

Q. As a poet are you under-rated or more so misunderstood?

I didn't consider myself to be either until now.

Q. Is your poetry consciously outrageous or have I just insulted you?

I don't think my poetry has ever caused outrage. I got an old woman in a brief loving headlock on the tube after a large amount of Tequila, that was outrageous behavior that I regret.

I've been doing this for 51 minutes.

Q. Where do you see yourself tomorrow?

I will be in the art shop at 8am dealing with a Daler Rowney delivery. Tomorrow as in the future, I will be having ideas, seeing if I like them, then seeing if other people like them.

Q. Rob – your stuff is brilliant – you know that right?

My parents like some of it, not all of it.


Follow Rob on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/robertauton

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!

Q&A with Poland and UK based Spoken Word poet - Bohdan Piasecki

Bohdan Piasecki writes and performs very well… and some of it is in Polish.

He’s studying for a PhD in poetry translation, any Spoken Word artist that pulls that off gets a double head nod from me.

There is something very mysterious about Bohdan, you only see him occasionally, he likes to talk and he’s got a lot to say but you have to provoke it out of him. He organized what – to this day is possibly the best Spoken Word gig I’ve done, the Warrick University Slam in 2008.

Q. YO BOHDAN! Why don’t I see you very often? You’re like Big Foot!

Yo back at you, Ray! So let me get this straight: you’re saying I’m a hairy mythical creature that probably does not exist? I know I haven’t had time to come down to London much, but I had no idea it’s been that bad. And is it my fault if I hate shaving?

The reason I’ve not been taking too many gigs recently is pretty dull, really: I have been insanely busy with my PhD, and between this and the European tour with Smoke & Mirrors, there was very little time left for anything else.

I will be all over the place when I’m done, though, so be careful what you wish for. I have an ever-growing mental list of projects, gigs, and other stuff I intend to do when I finally submit. But for now, “When I’m done with my dissertation” has become a mantra of mine – ask me any question, I dare you, and odds are this is the answer you’ll get.

Q. What inspired you to study poetry?

I’ll tell you when I’m done with my dissertation. Sorry, that was a knee-jerk reaction.

Well, I don’t really study poetry – I study poetry translation. What attracted me to this field in the first place is that so many people say translating a poem is not possible. In fact, it’s difficult to find anything literature-related that so many people agree on so readily: if you trot out the old Robert Frost quote, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation”, you will get heads nodding very quickly. “And it’s true, because it can’t ever be the same”, most people will say, and leave it there, acting as if this were the ultimate argument. My problem with this was that there seemed to be plenty of easily available evidence to show that it’s simply not the case: to take a British example, Shakespeare is known and loved around the world, so either he had really, really good PR, or his translators must have been doing something right.

As I grew up in between languages anyway (I went to a French school), the subject appealed to me anyway, so I decided to see if I could make any sense of all this. Since then, I’ve found translation an amazing activity, one that forces you to question your understanding of the poem, look for the features that make it what it is, and rewrite them so they still work as a good poem for another audience, another culture, another way of looking at the world – in another language. And the fact that “it’s never the same” is true of any reading of any poem worth your time anyway, translated or otherwise.

Q. How’s the poetry tour with the Smoke and Mirrors crew? I want roadie stories! I want to know about poets with groupies!

The Smoke & Mirrors tour is now over, and what long strange trip it’s been. There were nine poets and one musician involved (and at the beginning, also a mentor/director, Felix Römer, although sadly he did not get to travel around Europe with us), but we mostly travelled in groups of three; my companions were Dominique Macri (from Germany & Romania) and Paula Varjack (from the UK & the US), and together we have been to Germany, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, France, Austria, Spain, and Italy. We covered the spectrum, from tiny gigs in front of bemused audience in small cafés with no sound equipment (I’m looking at you, Vienna) to massive events in XIX century ballrooms (that was Madrid).


But you want groupie stories. Well, I’ll give you a groupie story.

In Lisbon, our show started at midnight, and then there was a concert, and an open mic… And so we left the club after 3 am. Everybody sensibly retired to the hotel (we had to be at the airport at 6:30), but I was hungry. I set out on a quest for a kebab place, a takeaway, something, but somehow I failed to find anything, despite the fact that the city was so rush-hour-crowded. On my way back to the hotel, though, I was stopped by this girl, who asked, wide-eyed, whether I was one of the poets who had performed that night at the Music Box. “It’s finally happening,” I thought, “I got recognized on the street!” So I cautiously acquiesced. “Wow,”, she said, and I prepared my best modest smile for accepting compliments. But then she continued: “I just wanted to tell you that you friend from Germany is so great! Her voice is beautiful, she moves like a dancer, and…” She went on about Dominique for a good five minutes, then spun around on her heel and walked away. I didn’t even get an “Oh, you were ok too.” So there… that’s my groupie story!

Q. You are young, you’re married and you’re a poet. How have you managed to balance those things? Is your wife into poetry? Does she have to shut you up about the amazing stanzas you’ve just crafted in your poetic notebook?

It’s funny how often I get asked this question – but the answer I haven’t had any problems balancing this at all, actually. In fact, I can honestly say that if anything, having my wife there to support me has been an enormous help in growing as a spoken word poet. Karolina was there for me from the beginning, when I was setting up the first slam in Poland, and she is still a source of strength, motivation and inspiration from me. Also, she can be a very shrewd critic, especially when it comes to the performance side of things, so I try to profit from that as much as I can.

As for the second question, I don’t really test my poems on humans until I think they are ready, and then I tend to try them out during performances. However, K. does have to endure a nearly endless stream of half-baked puns, limericks, nonsense poems, freestyle raps, songs, etc. on a daily basis. This is how my brain works, with bits and pieces of lines and random rhymes flying in, and the filters I put in place to protect society are off around her. She endures this without complaining. Yes, I’m lucky to have her.

Q. What are your plans once you’ve finished your PhD? Do you become a professor and go into publishing?

Well, I would really like to conduct a research project in the field of spoken word translation. No-one has done any serious work on this, and there are so many great non-English speaking poets to whom it never occurs they could come and tour over here because they think their texts will not penetrate the language barrier. To go through with this, I’ll probably need to get a university job, which would be great – I enjoy teaching, and academic life has many perks that are well suited to a touring poet’s lifestyle. Humanities post-docs are few and far between, however, so we will have to wait and see what happens.

I also started a new job, I've recently become the new Apples & Snakes programme co-ordinator for the West Midlands.

Q. Are you running any more events? How can we get involved? The 2008 Warwick University slam you put together was AMAZING!

It was a good night, wasn’t it? People are still talking about it three years later.
Anyway, I am likely to run many more events soon, both in the UK and in Poland (where we’re trying to set up the country’s first slam nationals). I’ll be sure to keep you posted when I know more!

Q. You’ve done lots of travelling with your poetry so you must have explored many scenes in other countries – What can you tell us about that? Any surprises? Does Poland have a Spoken Word scene?

That’s a topic for a whole other interview. Scenes are very different from country to country, even from city to city. For example, Germany is incredibly impressive: spoken word and slam are extremely popular over there, and normal monthly events have regular audiences of two or three hundred people, with a couple of thousands usually showing up for the German-language Championships. People can actually make a decent living as poets over there. Poland, meanwhile, still has a young scene, with a few established names and many, many new poets still trying to find their voices and to master stage fright. I love it, though: it’s still at the stage where people still sound very different from each other, and any given slam or open mic can showcase wildly different styles of poetry.
In general, I’ve found I can learn a lot from visiting international scenes: there are so many different approaches to spoken word, to performance, so many rhythms and melodies, that even if I don’t understand a word of what is being said, I can usually still find something to glean from the evening.

Q. Bohdan you’re a legend and an absolute inspiration – prove it to everyone else RIGHT NOW!

Umm. Can I not?

Q. Does Spoken Word have a future? If so, what is it?

Spoken Word has a future at least as long as its past, and that is very, very long indeed. What I’m trying to say is – we’re good for a while.

For more on Bohdan - http://wordra.in/

Polowanie (The Hunt) - recorded live in Witten (@ WERK*STADT) & Arnhem (@ the ArtEZ academy), 2007 from Bohdan Piasecki on Vimeo.

Q&A with Cambridge and London Based Spoken Word Artist - Hollie Mcnish

Let’s say Spoken Word poetry blew up, some fiery incarnate of a young Bob Dylan, a reflective Nina Simone and a love struck John Keats emerged from some trees in the city, and the whole world opened their eyes to the power and value of this art-form. Riding the crest of that gate-crashing wave would be ‘Hollie Mcnish’, passionately splattering verses into the open veins of the people.

I met Hollie in 2008, we’ve performed on the same stage numerous times and she’s certainly a hard act to follow. She’s a free flowing, internal rhyme scheming, conscious, empathetic and inspiring writer and Spoken Word artist. There’s magic in her voice, its slightly gravely but boldly feminine.

Recently she gave birth and composed an entire Spoken Word album called ‘Kick, Push’. In her own words it is “a journey through the beauty, brilliance and bollocks of having a baby”.

I’ve given it a listen and it was exactly what I wanted it to be, delicate but unrestrained, one of the most important things (in my opinion) in becoming a poet/song writer/ performer is being able to deliver your own truth and integrity, something that lacks in a lot of Rappers, emcees and young writers.


If there is any justice in the world, Hollie Mcnish’s star quality will not be overlooked.

Q. Hollie, it’s been a while! What in the world are you up to?

At the moment, in between watching in fascination as my daughter learns to talk and walk and smile, I'm in the final stages of my album 'Touch', which I've been recording over the last year. It’s a mix of poetry and some music / beats and skits. And I'm just trying to keep writing down as much as I can, though a lot of rhymes I think of but don't have the chance to write down and then forget! I'm playing at Glastonbury really soon, and then Latitude, Shambala, Fordham Fest and going to Secret Garden Party. That's about as much as I can manage at the moment without keeling over but I can't wait. I've never been to any except Glastobury so it should be an experience - especially with the wee one! I'm also doing some workshops with schools around Cambridge, on poetry and riverside developments which looks interesting. But mainly, I'm looking after my daughter, who'll be coming to all the gigs and classes with me so it should be a laugh! Oh, and I've got a residency lined up for next March in Belgium which I can't wait for cos I'm forgetting my French and I get really excited talking it!

Q. Giving birth has not stopped you from pursuing your career as a Spoken Word artist. Where does that type of faith stem from? How are you managing?


I’m managing alright thanks to a lot of help from my boyfriend of course, and mum! And the fact that my baby is a bloody amazing calm tree gazer at the moment! They both forced me to read out my poems to others at the start of it all and are really supportive in making sure I carry on with it...the longer I have a break between gigs the more nervous I get again – it’s not a good look! I don’t feel like I’m trying to pursue a career as a poet – I work for an urban planning / environmental charity and love that work but I find I express my ideas about stuff best in rhyme, always have. And now I’m kinda stuck between paths!! I love writing but I don’t think I’d be able to if I gave up my job or studies – cos that’s where I get what I write about. At the moment though, sleep takes priority over both!

Q. You’re shortlisted to represent British talent as a Spoken Word artist at an Australian Young Writers Festival. How can Spoken Word artists create these kinds of opportunities?

I know this is a stupidly practical answer but I find out about loads from two websites...arts council job ads and news and another writing website... http://www.literaturetraining.com/metadot/index.pl?id=2213 And then apply for everything you want!

Q. What or who inspires your craft as a writer and performer?

To be honest, probably people who make me angry cos that’s when I feel I need to write to get out my frustration and sort out my thoughts into a more helpful form. so in that sense, Nick Griffin, George Bush, Uribe (Colombian president), Rupert Murdoch! I write a lot of softer poetry, more personal stuff too, but I hardly ever read it out – I don’t feel like people would be interested in that side...in terms of poets, I don’t know too many to be honest, it’s more musicians and lyrics that I would sit and listen to for hours...i love taskforce, Erikah Badu, durrty goodz, arianna puello...too many to go into really.

Q. You come across as a street-wise young woman, what was your own upbringing like and how has this led to you being who and what you are today?

Ooh, not sure, don’t generally talk about family stuff but overall had a lovely, lucky, un-traumatic, blessed upbringing. All my family are from Glasgow or nearabouts but I was born in England which was always a bit strange being the one with a funny accent! I went to a normal school, was a bit of a geek in class, always desperate to learn. I studied at Cambridge, which taught me a lot about not being intimidated by people I used to - eg very rich, upper class etc etc. I lived in the French Caribbean for a year, then did a part time masters in development economics while working in a lovely wee clothes shop and less lovely night club to pay for it...so, I guess, I’ve had a real mix of stuff and kinda learnt a bit off it all I think – lived on my own for 8 years which helps I reckon!


I remember we were both talking once about people who “don’t get what we do” and it’s hard when those people are your loved ones and close relatives? How understanding is the family now?

They vary! Some love it, others hate it, mainly because of the swearing, others I think don’t like the subject matter, but a lot just aren’t bothered either way – it’s not really a conversation topic most of the time. The only thing that is hard is when they start to pressure me to make it like a career, and then it stops being fun, and I stop thinking of poems!

Q. So many respected poets, writers and magazines have already tipped you to blow! You’re a fantastic inspiration and I’d like to see more of you… How you going to keep hungry?

Well, I’m flattered. I still find it kinda crazy cos I’ve been writing for so many years and now I’m reading to other people and they like it – well some like it! I love writing, I always have so I really don’t see it stopping. The only time I stopped was when I was at Uni for three years cos I got no inspiration at all. Was weird. But yeah, I write about everything and anything so unless we go into a black hole, I don’t think I’ll lose the hunger! And as for performing, the more I do it, the less nervous I get and the more bloody amazing people and places I meet. It’s a great turn in my life and I don’t want it to stop!



VOTE FOR HOLLIE MCNISH TO GO TO AUSTRAILIA AND REP THE UK IN THE YOUNG WRITERS FESTIVAL HERE - http://www.greatbritons.ba.com/users/20692

Q&A with London and Brighton based Spoken Word legend - Paradox

The man, the myth, the legend – ‘Rodney Christopher Paradox’ is one of those rare human beings with the aura of strong gales of wisdom and knowledge you feel before he’s even fluttered his lips. His story is awe-inspiring but I’d rather let him tell it. I was doing at least 3 gigs a week in 2008 on the London Spoken Word circuit and ‘Paradox’ is a name that kept coming up. “Yo man, you seen that cat Paradox – he’s amazing but I haven’t seen him for a while” I hadn’t met the man but I felt his presence. Then a good friend of mine, Dr.Stewart sent me a video of him performing up a tree that blew my mind! I did a gig recently at Chris Redmond and Shane Solanki’s night of improvisational musicians and Spoken Word poetry – Tongue Fu. The line up was Laura Dockrill, Bryon Vincent, Deanna Rodger and the man himself – He performed a piece about losing a limb, I’d waited two years to hear that poem and it was everything I wanted it to be. He’s the fourth Spoken Word poet to make me cry – and I got a strong heart dammit!

Q. Paradox, you know there are quite a lot of emcees and Spoken Word artists called ‘Paradox’ but you’re the only one worthy of the name I’ve yet to see, what does it mean? Why Paradox?

Actually I didn't know that Raymond, but I think its perfectly appropriate that there are many singular beings called paradox! The definition of paradox that I like best is; "an apparent contradiction which nevertheless feels true" e.g. the "sound of silence". My life has always been defined and even dominated by paradox, in that the "worst day of my life" was the "best day of my life", the "stupidest thing I ever did" was the "smartest thing I ever did", and the "worst thing that ever happened to me" was the "best thing that ever happened to me." It was these painfully perfect personal paradoxes that inspired me to start writing performance poetry at the age of 35, having never written a poem in my life before that. So by taking on the name, I think I was basically honoring my muse, whilst at the same time ensuring my contradictory experience would continue to provide me with poetic material! Most importantly though, its just a shit hot stage name innit? hahaha.


Q. You quit a £70,000 a year job and discovered Spoken Word poetry. Please share that story with us.

Well Raymond, the problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat! And after 14 years in sales, marketing, media and advertising I discovered (with a little help from Bill Hicks and Bob Marley) that I was living someone else’s life... and that someone was an ignorant, selfish consumer-competitor with virtually no social conscience and an empty hole in his life where meaning and purpose should be. So I decided to quit his life and get a life of my own. Initially this involved using skills developed during 7 years as a media researcher to inform myself about the mysterious entity that is the raison d’être of the rat race and (apparently) makes the world go round. What I discovered about money and the private "bankstas" who create it out of thin air, at a profit (while saddling the people and governments of the world with an un-payable debt), and the astonishingly far reaching and wholly negative impact this insane and fraudulent system of money supply has on our society, completely blew my mind and left me utterly disillusioned with the world. In fact I was so disillusioned that I decided to give it all up and become a homeless Big Issue Seller!

However as a consciously destitute, conscientious objector to a world run by private banks, I didn't fancy the urine and Special Brew soaked boudoir of your typical street sleeper, so I decided to go back to nature and sleep under a tree. As a London boy that meant going to live in my favourite park!!! So on April 11th 2002 I arrived in Battersea Park, with a bin liner full of clothes and a bin liner full of books and a determination to stay there until the Universe showed me what the hell I was supposed to do with my life. After an hour long reconnaissance I found my spot and made a home for myself under a tree in a fenced off area called "The Meadow", which was just across from the tennis courts and near the Buddhist Pagoda by the river (for those of you who know London's loveliest park;). For 7 months I contemplated life, the Universe and Oligarchy from my ex-army sleeping bag bed, under the stars of south London. I'd get up in the morning, walk to the Big Issue offices in Vauxhall, buy my magazines for the day and then walk down Vauxhall Bridge Road to my pitch on Victoria Street. Fortunately there was a homeless shelter there called "The Passage", where you could get a hot shower and your laundry done, so I managed to stay pretty clean and sweet smelling (well relatively speaking anyway) ;-)


I was lucky enough to be offered a room in a squat in October, so I didn't have to face an English winter exposed to the elements and I had an ex-army waterproof blanket to keep me dry when it rained, so I was actually pretty comfortable under my tree! As for my day job, I didn't know it at the time, but selling the Big Issue was an ideal preparation/practice for becoming a Performance Poet, because I soon figured out that if I gave an "entertaining performance" not only I could sell roughly 15 magazines per hour, but the often soul destroying, awkward and humiliating experience of Big Issue selling, could actually be a real buzz for me and lots of fun for my "audience"!

When you live in a park you can live pretty well on £20 a day, so after an hour or two of "performing" I'd spend the rest of the day hanging out "at home" feeding the ducks, or in the library studying or in an internet cafe researching. After three months of this my disillusionment had transformed into the natural peace and joy of a happy simpleton. And out of my renunciates bliss, paradoxical metaphysical poetry poured forth from my virgin lips, like a kind of spiritual dysentery. Having never considered myself an artist or even particularly creative, the experience of "hearing" a poem forming in the ethers of my mind with a hitherto unknown and unutilised extra sensory perception, was so indescribably orgasmic (not to mention having been shown my life purpose so definitively) that in my puppy dog enthusiasm I found myself accosting innocent members of the public to ask them "would you like a poem?" and launching into one well before they'd had a chance to reply. After a month or so of doing an uncanny impersonation of the "mad guy in the park", I discovered the weird and wonderful world of Open Mics. Firstly at The Foundry on Old Street and then at The Mass in Brixton, where I met Shortman, El Crisis, Mr Gee, David J, Floetic Lara, Dom de Mic and other super talented Poets who were taking the London Spoken Word scene by storm. The rest, as they say, is History.

Q. Your poetry has many philosophical qualities and provokes much radical thought – What do you essentially hope people get out of your work?

Well I'm not a good enough writer to inspire people with my lyrical imagery and I'm not a good enough performer to blow em away with a David J-like dramatic Tour de Force, so the heart of my work has always been the message. All of my poems were originally inspired by some kind of insight about the human experience, (the literary definition of paradox is "an anomalous juxtaposition of incongruous ideas for the sake of striking exposition or unorthodox insight) and in the process of composing them I attempt to construct and engage an entertaining, adult nursery rhyme around that insight and hopefully evoke the same inspiration in the audience that evoked the poem in me. I see my job as a poet as passing on the inspiration I've been given, so if the audience is inspired by what they've heard, then they've made an old man very happy. As a poet, what they do with that inspiration is none of my business, but as an workshop facilitator, youth worker and social activist, I would hope they would be inspired to live a more meaningful life and make the world a better place for them being in it.


Q. Who do you rate on the scene at the moment? Is there even a “scene”?

I'm not really clued up with the scene any more, "scenes" are for the young bruv! But the poets I admire most are Yap, Tony Bison, Moksha, Dave Pepper, Ash, Interference, Spliff Richard & Kate Tempest. Writing that list it's clear to me that the poets who inspire me are those who are continuing the oral tradition, which we sometimes forget is thousands of years older than the literary one. The original spoken word performers and the Bards of these isles, were all about informing and empowering the people with their hard earned life wisdom and insight, in order to inspire growth and social action. All the poets I've mentioned are true to that "bardic" spirit.


Q. How does one grow as a Spoken Word artist?

Well of course I can only speak for myself, but the key for me to grow as an artist, has been to grow as a person. It was a common occurrence a few years ago for me to write a poem that was eulogising a certain life choice/path that I myself wasn't choosing/walking. What I found was that until I did start to walk my talk consistently, writers block would descend and no further inspiration would be given! I am very happy to say that apart from The Matrix, which is a poem about the still operative system of debt based money, I don't perform any poems that are more than about three years old, for the simple reason that I've changed (grown hopefully) so much in that time, that I don't feel the words I once wrote anymore. Aside from all that, the answer as to how to grow as an artist, spoken word or otherwise, is well known enough to be a cliché: face your fears; constantly challenge yourself and don't rest on your laurels. If you do that, you won't be able to help but grow...but be careful what you wish for!

Q. Where do you see Spoken Word poetry going as an art form/ genre in the next decade? What’s the way forward?

Well given my view on the "scene", it won't surprise you to hear that I feel Spoken Word will go back to its roots and be more about inspiring growth and social action and less about "art for art sake". The economic crash of 2008 as well as the current situation in Greece was both inevitable consequences of basing the world’s money supply on a Ponzi scheme. So as the inherently insane and self destructive nature of a world ruled by banks becomes more and more obvious, I can see more and more Poets using Spoken word for what it was originally intended for...to inform, inspire and empower. In fact I think this is already happening. I put on an Open Mic night in Brighton called Attitude Kings and I go to about 7 or 8 festivals every summer, and most of the super talented young poets I've seen are socially conscious "Bard-Poets." Thank fuck!!!

Q. Can we expect any publications from you?

Yes I'm working on an album. But don't hold your breath!

Q. Paradox you’re a legend and an inspiration! You know that right?

Well I've been called a legend a handful of times, but I figure those people were just easily impressed or slightly retarded, or both i.e. fans of Big Brother, so I'm not buying that. However I have been told that I'm inspirational thousands of times, so despite the risk of inflating my ego even further (if that's even possible) I've decided to accept that it must be true! After all, thousands of people can't be wrong can they? Drat! I've just realised how many people voted in the general election in the belief that the party political system is actually democratic. Bang goes that theory!

Q&A With New York Based Poet/ Spoken Word artist - Jon Sands

I met Jon Sands in New York at a poetry night called ‘Food For Thought’ in Bed Stuy (Brooklyn).

Blown away by his set, I bought his CD and on listening, I was as impressed with his writing as I was with his performance.

A regular argument with writers is 'Spoken Word artists aren’t actually “poets” per se. They write unstructured prose for an audience. They shouldn’t be credited as “poets” as poets are supposed to be as passionate about form as much as language.'


I don’t agree, but I would agree that most good Spoken Word artists are stronger performers than they are writers.

Jon Sands to me is among the rare breed to package par-excellence in performance and writing and actively call himself a Spoken Word artist – not a stand up comedian, storyteller, entertainer. NO! – He’s a Spoken Word artist, YES! - He's been published.

Mr Sands – introduce yourself.


My name is Jon Sands. I’m a native of Cincinnati, but I’ve lived in New York City since 2006. I’ve been a full-time teaching and performing artist since 2007. When I’m in New York I ride my bicycle to all five boroughs (except Staten Island). I will change plans if the sun is out, and winter is most definitely not my shit, but my roommate told me there’s nothing more poetic than seasons. I fall in love at least six times/day, and Andre 3000 has to be the artist that most consistently blows my mind. I’m scared of dying, but I think I’m coming to grips with that.


Q. What is your personal mission as a Spoken Word artist?

My interaction with this art has felt much like climbing a pyramid, and only being able to see the next step. I want to make sure I don’t get stuck on one step for too long. I think I used to feel a larger responsibility to write a good poem, which sounds like a quality goal, but I’m finding that consistently checking in with myself to write “today’s” poem has been more rewarding. I’m less concerned with recreating poems I’ve already written. We wake up different people than when we went to sleep. There’s something in an artist that has to be ok with that. I’d like to be brave enough to let my art reflect the ways I’m changing, which means that when following a creative thought, you’re consistently mapping uncharted territory. The artists to whom I traditionally gravitate are ones I can look to each year or two and say, “So that’s where you’re at now.” There’s something constantly changing that makes them trustworthy for their audience. If you check five years later – they’re making the same art, and you’re a different person it’s harder to feel like you live on the same planet. So, I guess my mission is to consistently figure out my mission – and then be okay with it changing. And, to not be lazy. Across the board – I can’t help but feel laziness is our enemy.



Q. How do you think Spoken Word artists and poets can push Spoken Word poetry as a genre and could poetry/Spoken Word generate mainstream appeal?

More than anything, I think growth comes from a genuine interest in pursuing knowledge. Granted, the amount of poetry out there can be absolutely overwhelming (but I think that’s a good thing). I’m always happy to meet and interact with poets who READ poems. So much of creativity is carving out the space in a world that only your voice can occupy. I think that task becomes infinitely more difficult if you’re unaware of what came before you, and what else is happening right now. There’s an incredible amount of fun to be had in reading poetry, fiction, short stories, non-fiction, the encyclopedia, and you find that your ability to better tell your own story grows ten-fold without you knowing it.

Having said that, our art form has such a magnificent backbone in the open-mic/open-slam scene that we can lose sight of the idea that the poetry can be its own appeal. Not every audience is made on the agreement that they too will be able to bless the microphone that night. I’m continually inspired by the spoken word artists that put a large effort into organizing amazing shows in which they maintain artistic control throughout the night. I love the feeling as an audience member of riding shotgun, completely trusting the driver to deliver me wherever they want. For me, that trust is nearly impossible in an open-mic/poetry slam (meaning that kind of trust with an entire night). There seem to be more people each day pursuing that route, and thus opening unbelievable doors for our school of artist to walk through.

Q. You are also a workshop facilitator, would you say the educational route is the best way to stabilize yourself as a poet?

Stabilize like money? Certainly, I think the best way to stabilize yourself is to not have just one thing you do. There are amazing poets that don’t feel comfortable at the head of a classroom, but can sing their ass off, or can sell a project to get it off the ground. Facilitating workshops has been a wonderful gift for me. I think there’s a journey in writing quality curriculum that is not unlike making art, and if you leave a group of people who are happy with the experience they’ve had that day, that only opens up the door for you to do something more often. I think the goal is always to be a 360-degree person (I think Quincy Jones might have coined that phrase). The artists I find myself gravitating toward and supporting are the ones that can do a lot of things well. The ones that can take a room full of people on a journey in their set, then again when the people in that room go home with their merchandise, again the next day in a classroom, and again at the after party.



Q. Who is your favorite Spoken Word artist right now and why?

If that isn’t the most difficult question of the bunch... I’m pulling incredible amounts of inspiration from both the large and small communities of which I’m a part. The spoken worders that currently have my creative goose cooking at warp speed are Jeanann Verlee, Adam Falkner, and Eboni Hogan (all based out of the big apple – and my community bias is unmistakable). They create whole worlds with their poems and stamp my passport for entry. Such care is given to the small details in each poem with unbelievable trust that the reader/audience will know why we’re there and why we’re important. All three of them make me laugh/cry/think out loud within the course of two minutes. I love poems that feel multi-dimensional and carved out of the complicated world we live in (where joy and sorrow appear to consistently live inside the same moment). But, come on, who can possibly choose three (let alone one)? On any given day you can hear me calling Roger Bonair-Agard/ Patricia Smith/ Rachel Mckibbens/ Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz/ Shira Erlichman the best to ever fall under the Spoken Word umbrella. I could go for days.



Q. Describe the worst performance of poetry you ever had to sit through?

Ooooooh, I don’t know. I’ve definitely sat through a few hard-to-sit-through evenings of poetry, but I don’t think I could call anything out by name. I find it hardest to stay seated when a performer seems to buy into the caricature image our art form makes in the heads of people that haven’t seen it. Though, I’ve seen audiences absolutely lose their shit over poems I felt in my heart of hearts were whackety-whack-sauce, so I try to just love and appreciate the stuff that vibrates with me, and not worry so much about the stuff that doesn’t. I think Common said it best – “Some of ya’ll pop to it, I ain’t relatin’. If I don’t like it, I don’t like it, that don’t mean that I’m hatin’.”


Q. What are the biggest nuisances about the Spoken Word Poetry scene?

Honestly, I try not to put too much energy into the nuisances. If I had to choose though it would be the resistance to growth that can be caused by the poetry slam (which I believe is also an amazing catalyst for the ways our bodies experience this art). It seems far too often, poets experience success (or perhaps slam victory is a better word?) in a certain type of poem or writing, then neglect to acknowledge in their newer art (if they have newer art) that they are a changing person. It’s disheartening to see talented people attempt to recreate poems around a template that has assisted them to the comfort of consistent slam victory (a lovely competition that has never been a quality judge of the breadth of someone’s work). It can be scary to write today’s poem when even you are expecting some of yesterday’s magic. But, that is an incredibly temporary problem (at least on an individual scale). Your creativity comes from your body, and the house always wins, so most people who chain themselves to one type of thing end up shifting their approach, or stopping writing poems altogether.



Q. As a Spoken Word artist that competes in slams, what’s most important – The writing or the performance?

I have a friend who consistently asks the question, “Would you rather see a mediocre poem performed incredibly, or a magnificent poem with a performance lacking any of the poem’s magic?” I tend to side with the idea that a poem has many lives, all of which are interconnected. The artists to whom I gravitate are ones that take advantage of each opportunity for discovery. I write to discover, and perform for the same reason. Whenever you have an “aha” moment reading or listening to a poem, it’s only because the artist has also had that same moment. You enjoy it together, and when it happens through performance, sometimes it’s simultaneous. That said, a poem can have such an amazing life on the page. It can team with your imagination and dance through your entire body. As an audience member, it’s difficult to reach the highest highs with an artist who appears to not have excavated the possible discoveries in the writing process. I absolutely lose it for a poem that’s always trying to find something, and reading a poem aloud is the best way I’ve been able to help find that trail. Though, it was Shira Erlichman who said something along the lines of, “I want to feel like I’m in a picture, constantly chasing something only slightly out of the frame.”


Q. Finally, I want to be as good as you. How can it be done?

Never. :-) That’s very sweet of you to say.

But the good news is you can be as good as you! And, that definition is constantly changing. It’s also the only path you got, so you better buckle up and enjoy it.

For more on Jon Sands - www.myspace.com/jonsandsmusic

Q&A with Berlin and London based Spoken Word Artist - Paula Varjack

It’s 2008, I’m strolling off Brick Lane and into 93 Feet East on a wet weekday, literally walking into the life of Paula Varjack, a smokey dim-lit bar and lots of trendy artistic-looking men, grinning at the pink high heels, full red lips and glossy long legs of poetry. Varjack impressed me immediately.


The first time we spoke was at Farrago in Shoreditch where I was also performing, she came up to me after the show with her book and said “hey, if I give you my book will you actually read it?” “of course!” I took it and actually read it. I genuinely wish that everyone introduced themselves to me with a book of their poetry.


We became mates; she was the first person I told about my plan to give up my well-paid full time job as a Personal Trainer for Spoken Word poetry, she’s probably the only person who didn’t question my mental stability. We were sitting on a night bus when I told her, to which she replied, “great, you have my support”


A month later I’m out in Berlin with her, hitting up some slams, she’s quite a celebrity among the poetry heads in Berlin, she had her own one-woman show with the same title as the book she gave me ‘Kiss and Tell’, she created the anti-slam where the worst poet wins and she too gave up a professional career for poetry and documentary film making.

Q. Paula, you gave up a good career in television are you MAD!?

Paula - oh mad without question. But I should probably clarify that I didn't give up my production career for poetry (although that previous life does kind of relate oddly) I was working for an animation company, specifically in charge of all the audio production which meant I co-ordinated and managed all the voice over talent for the voice records of the shows. I didn't realize one day I’d be on the other side of the mic, but I didn't give up animation for poetry. Before I moved to Berlin, in London I’d been working in the same company, with more or less the same responsibilities for years. As fun as it was and as talented as the people I worked with were, it didn't feel like I was going anywhere. Other more uh...domestic matters... went wrong around the same time. Suddenly I very much felt like I needed a change, a drastic one. Berlin was an idea that had been floating in my head for a while, it was almost mythologized and it seemed as good a place to runaway as anywhere, so I rented out my flat and went, moved to Berlin without a lick of German and only a couple friends there. I actually had this crazy idea that in Berlin i could focus and work on my new passion, documentary filmmaking. I rented a little studio near my new flat to edit in (it was actually painted *gold* no lie) and before I knew it I started to make friends and more friends and learned enough German to get by. The crucial turning point was when my thirtieth birthday was coming up; a friend in London invited me to perform at a new cabaret night she was launching. it seemed like a great way to turn thirty. I was never a performer but I’d always been into the idea of slam. I thought I’d put together a short-spoken word set, and from that night forward, well... I never finished that documentary...

Q. You’ve lived in many places (all seem to be cities) Berlin, London, Washington DC, I know you were out in Ghana recently. How has this influenced your writing and performance?

Paula - I’m completely culturally schizophrenic. I speak English with an American accent, London slang and the odd German word thrown in. I’ve always been obsessed with cities. My mum is from Accra, my father is from London, I was born in DC. Summers were divided between London and Accra visiting family.I grew up in the suburbs of DC, but as soon as i was old enough to take the metro into town by myself I was there, at cafes, gigs and art galleries. If I go on holiday I never go somewhere remote and scenic. I like urban landscapes, architecture, art, people, noise. The first performance piece I became known for, was about how living in Berlin felt like having an affair behind London’s back. It is an ongoing theme. In film school, my graduation film was about the city of London giving relationship advice to the main character, through a series of interactions with strangers. I then moved onto blogging where I was always characterizing/personifying cities as characters (mainly female ones...)the characters I constantly meet in cities, are a tremendous influence to me. The energy of urbanism is what keeps me feeling alive.

Q. What came first – The kiss or the tale?

Paula - ah... that’s a ‘how long is a piece of string question’ no? Sometimes the story leads to the kiss and sometimes vice versa. Generally with the work I’ve done to date, the kiss comes first. Then again, I have a writer/filmmaker head that leads me to constantly seek out narratives, subtext, back-story. Sometimes the subtext is even better than the kiss. Sometimes the fantasy is better left as a fantasy, but I’m off the kiss and tell track now. It was a fun adventure and great material for sure, but now I want to focus on other kinds of stories.


Q. You were a touring poet last year with your Berlin crew, how did it go? What did you learn? I want some roadie stories!

Paula - yes I’m one fourth of a crew called *skint but sexy* an anglicized version of when Berlin’s mayor famously (infamously) called Berlin "poor but sexy”. It was a brilliant tour, mainly because the people I toured with: Michael Haeflinger, Moon, and musician Joe Czarnecki are such wonderfully talented people, and soooo not egocentric. I mainly learned how both draining and exciting the experience of performing in a new city each night can be. Roadie stories? Oh loads... our arrival was pretty rock and roll, we were picked up at Bristol airport by Andie from the acoustic night at halo, in a big shiny white Mercedes van. Ending up having late night whiskeys in a soho members bar with Salena Godden after the book club boutique gig was pretty cool too. There were definitely tour casualties,like Moon's passport, and very nearly Joe’s laptop (Which he realized he'd left in the train just as we saw the train leave. It was saved by a sympathetic station controller)

Q. The Anti-Slam concept is genius! What inspired the idea and how’s the night going?

I can't take the credit for the concept. I visited New York last fall and saw a performance at the Nuyorican poet cafe by Jamie Dewolf. As part of his feature set he performed a winning piece from his anti-slam event in Oakland. I was totally blown away. It managed to satirize every bad habit in performance poetry. There were cringe-worthy rhymes, shaking hands holding the poem, defensiveness, terrible metaphors (etc) I knew right away that I wanted to bring the idea to Berlin. As soon as I came back I started asking everyone i knew on the scene what they thought about the idea. The response was so positive I knew it would take off if I did it. I've hosted/produced three of them now. With the concept you can't really do it too often I think. I also like the idea that it’s a special event, without any clear regularity of when the next one will happen. The last one happened on Valentines Day and was an anti-love poetry special. It was seriously hilarious. The next one will be mid July with a political theme. I’m extremely excited and curious to hear some pathetic political ranting. Wolfgang Hogekamp is producing this one with me which I really think will help take it to another level in terms of promotion and event production. I'm really keen also to bring the event to London in the fall. I just need to find the right person or people to produce it with, so if anyone's interested, holler....

Q. Many of us poets are hungry to jump into the world of one-person shows – Is this the way forward for Spoken Word artists who have been on the circuit for some time?

Paula - I think theatre is a logical progression from spoken word. I think the best slam pieces are in effect microcosms of theatre, or at least very much monologue based. Music is another direction a lot of performance poets move towards. I don't think any of these things are mutually exclusive either. However, I don't think that solo shows are for everyone. I also don't think a solo show should simply be thirty to sixty minutes of poems. I did this in a way with my last solo show, built up a narrative through poems and monologues. It did work in a way, but I realized that theatre being a whole other medium, I’d rather connect with that medium in its own terms, not force another medium (spoken word) into it. Its something like adapting a book to a film, you know? The question is an individual one, what each artist personally wants to achieve. You shouldn't do a solo show just because you've been doing slam poetry for a while, you should do a solo show because that’s a medium you want to explore, and it suits the story you want to tell. For me, as much as I love slams, I want to perform and tell stories that are longer than a three-minute limit, or even fifteen-minute feature sets. I want to combine multimedia elements of music and video projection; I want to work with physicality and silences as much as text, so theatre seems the best way forward for me.

Q. I want to go back to Berlin and do more performances out there – what’s the scene saying at the moment?

Paula - The scene is always open to you coming back Ray :-) the English language scene is very much thriving, a beautiful new English literary journal has just been published called Sand (http://sandjournal.com/) that kind of commemorates this. Berlin's slam scene is varied, expansive and receptive to English language performers. It’s a large part of what keeps me here.

Q. Have I been Varjacked? Its hard to tell?

Paula- ah no, trust me, when you've been varjacked... you definitely know...




For more on Paula Varjack visit - www.paulavarjack.com and http://myspace.com/skintbutsexy

Next Movements

I’m setting up a night of Spoken Word and music with Mista Gee and Deanna Rodger. A few weeks ago Gee asked me to be part of a pilot for a TV show called ‘Power Of The Pen’ with Tony Benn, Alexi Sayle, Ross Sutherland and a rapper with a smile called The Leano. It was a blast! The film crew were great and I can’t wait to see the show aired.

Anyway, I got to know Gee a bit better and I think we really clicked, a couple weeks later he tells me he’s got some ideas. We met up at Rich Mix and right there we schemed a night of Spoken Word and music, I decided to add a face to it and thought of the superstar Deanna Rodger, we both performed for the first time on the same night back in 2007 (pictured), we were slamming and both went through to the final (she won) but we clicked and became friends.



We haven’t got a name for the night yet, but I’ve bought in Craig Tomas as a resident documenter and (fellow PiP member) Kim Leng Hills as resident acoustic artist... SOLID TEAM!

got some new Spoken Word recordings up too - www.myspace.com/raymondantrobus
In other exciting news I've been booked to perform at The London Literature Festival, Keat's Festival and Secret Garden Party (with Poe Jazzi)

YEAR OF THE POET!