Guest column: London’s Spoken Word Scene
This is a guest post by Raymond Antrobus who is a photographer, performance poet and writer born and bred in East London (Hackney, Dalston)
Scoobius Pip
“The World Is A Stage, Except The Poetry Area… That’s A Tent” – John Berkavitch
Shane Solanki
“How many of you here write!?” shouts one of London’s most respected spoken word artists ‘Polar Bear’ from the poetry tent at this year’s Latitude Festival. I turned around and saw at least three quarters of the hundred-strong audience raise their hand… “Well, why is it that I go away for two years, come back and it’s the same people doing this!?”
He had a point, I had been at the poetry tent for some four hours and only saw one performer I hadn’t seen before and he had become one of the most memorable acts of the whole festival for me.
So you live in or around London, you write poetry, short stories, scripts and you are looking to develop your skills, there is a real world waiting for you… Trust me.
Performing your work develops your writing as well as your performing, being exposed to other peoples’ writing that share similar aspiration to you is surprisingly inspiring and motivational.
I have been performing my work for two years now. I’ve been building my profile by performing at spoken word events and poetry slams in Berlin, Paris and Venice, as well as Latitude Festival and The Secret Garden Party.
How I came to Spoken Word
Raymond Antrobus
I went travelling through North America in 2007 and discovered an open mic event in Ohio, Columbus where people could show up between the scheduled acts. I carried a journal with me that contained poetry inspired by my travels and I was persuaded by companions (or perhaps more-so by alcohol-fuelled confidence boosts) to perform something I’d written. Previously, performing for an audience had terrified me. I believed if I was to perform and realise it wasn’t for me it would affect the desire I had to write anything at all. But, my piece went down well. Well enough to make me think: “man, when I get back to London I want to pick this up” which is exactly what I did.
I performed for the first time at an event called ‘Farrago’ hosted and created by John Paul O’Neil in December 2007. I took part in a slam, and came runner-up to the then London poet champion – Deanna Rodger. I then started performing in Covent Garden’s Poetry Unplugged hosted by Niall O’Sullivan who booked me to appear at his book signing (Ventriloquism For Monkey’s) in Oxford Street, Borders. The rest, they say, is history. I have since won the International Farrago Slam and am still writing and performing nationally and internationally (when I get the chance).
Zena Edwards
The Scene
Poetry Unplugged, Apples and Snakes Open Mic’s and Farrago are the starting points for most of us on the scene. I’d even bumped into Scroobius Pip when he was merely a man with a beard and now look at him! (Reciting his own Bible entries at the top of this page)
Polar Bear
The London spoken word scene provides many writers with a stage to showcase their sensitivities, but it takes strength to deliver the goods and remain consistently passionate. Write from the heart and you will go far.
There are many branches you can swing to from spoken word. Some performers are actors or playwrights experimenting with dialogues, some performers are stand-up comedians, authors and even lecturers or teachers developing their oratory skills and speech writing. Even Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have practiced and won awards for the performing art of spoken word.
In London, if you know any spoken word poets it’s bound to be Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Agard or Adrian Mitchell. All have been on the GCSE curriculum and studied by 14-16 year-olds for the past fifteen years or so.
I went to see Benjamin Zephaniah live at the South Bank Centre to pin-point how he’s managed to pull-off such appeal by simply talking to an audience and reciting poetry about his experience. Why should anyone care about what he’s been through?
Kate Tempest
I noticed that what Benjamin has is a very special talent to communicate in a way that, as an audience member, you feel he’s talking directly to you despite the 400 plus people in the room. He’s so warm, funny and vibrant with the stage presence of a friendly lion. Most importantly he doesn’t speak at you; he doesn’t preach or undermine his audience. If he performs a political piece it’s a story with a message within it, left for the minds of the audience to unravel. He also has a variety of performance styles which kept his 120 minute set entertaining and sharp through charm and unpredictability.
The spoken word scene is relatively small and the funny thing about it is when people who are unaware of such a scene stumble upon it… They usually love it! Get involved!
If you want to try your hand and your heart at spoken word performance here are some more events you can get involved in
Poetry In Motion, The Book Club Boutique
Photography and writing By Raymond Antrobus.
If you would like to contribute a guest post please email us at LDN@LDNintereesting.com
