I am massively excited to be going to Edinburgh! I'll be performing Poetry Can F*ck Off with Sameena Zehra, Roy Hutchins, Mike Dr Blue and Johnny Fluffypunk at the wonderful Summerhall, 15.30-16.30 from 14-22 August. Check out a lovely 4 Star review from Sabotage here
We'll be having special guests during this run including Mark Thomas and David Lee Morgan so come along and see us.
Book your tickets here
As part of the event, The Point is to feel it: A Night Creative Responses to Climate Change, the RSA have published a collection of poems from the night which features my poem, 'We have Everything we Need' alongside the work of others, including poems from Alice Oswald, Ruth Padel, George the Poet, Simon Barraclough, John Agard, Grace Nichols and Tom Chivers.
Check out the full collection here
Here is a my poem, recorded as a part of the Silence would be Treason event. The poem itself was written as a part Climate Change Kwansabas with Sai Murray and Zena Edwards in connection with Free Word.
This was beautifully filmed by the talented Onysha D Collins. Also check out the lovely write up from Jane Trowell of Platform which has videos of the the other poems I recorded for this event there too.
The quote she uses as an intro is fast becoming my favourite:
"We are not idealists. We know that art alone does not make the revolution.But we are not fools. We know that revolution is impossible without the art"
- Frente Popular, Dario Santillan
If you have not been jammy enough get a Glastonbury tickets and are in the Durham area, I'll be part of an event with Platform (Jane Trowell) and Sai Murray, hosted by Durham Transition, called Silence would be Treason. This is part of a bigger event on art, migration and climate change. As on the day, I'll be in the middle of a mud splattered field, Platform recorded have number of my poems to feature as part of event.
You can catch this alongside performances and discussion from Sai Murray and Jane Trowell on 28 June, 7.30-11pm at the Empty Shop HQ, Durham
I was commissioned to write a poem and record a video for an event at the RSA which looked at creative responses to climate change. When many of us know about climate change on a factual basis, how might we feel it? and in feeling it, how might we react and have more empathy? On the night, my video was featured alongside a variety of poets such as Alice Oswald, Ruth Padel, George the Poet, Simon Barraclough, John Agard, Grace Nichols and Tom Chivers.
You can watch this below
Yeah GLASTO! Really looking forward to this. I'll be doing several things at this festival.
Firstly, I'll be performing Poetry Can F*ck Off as part of our ongoing tour.
We'll be performing on 28 June, 11am in the Circus and Theatre field in the glorious Astrolabe theatre. We'll also be doing a few roving gigs around the festival.
I'll also be performing as part of the Rabble Rousers, a political satirical bunch of poets, led by Danny Chivers in the Green Futures Field.
Alongside Danny, I'll be performing with Glastonbury poet in residence, Pete the Temp and Merrick.
We'll be performing on 26 June, 5.30pm Toad Hall stage and 28 June, 5pm on the Speakers Forum stage.
If you are lucky enough to have a ticket, please come along!
My good friend Kyla Manenti interviewed me for Lunar Poetry during which I talk about what influences my poetry and my new forthcoming collection, The Secrets I Let Slip. I also perform three new poems in the collection Encyclopedia, Two Sides of a Coin and Be Silent.
Really honoured that poet Cat Brogan took inspiration my poem Before to write Sabeen, a piece on the murder of social activist Sabeen Mahmu. Powerful and necessary stuff. Check it out below
Red, yellow and blue
primary colours collide
This art will not sell
Austerity cuts
Those without the knife to hold
Look who bleeds the most
‘Britain for the brits’
How many of us should
leave for a ‘fair’ nation?
We are deficits
Putting our hopes in ballots
And watching them rot
Politicians roar
Over future legacies
You all sound the same
Well. While. I have done previous work with Brainfruit, but i am delighted to be going on tour with them, performing Heathcote Williams' work Poetry can F*ck off. A piece about the revolutionary nature of poetry and the role it has had in political and social moments throughout the ages. I'll be performing in a cast with Roy Hutchins, Mike Dr Blue, Sameena Zehra and Johnny Fluffypunk
it's a really beautiful piece, featuring work by Pussy Riot, Yeats, Maya Angelou amongst many many others.
Gigs coming up:
Canada Water Culture Space London (Election Special), 7 May
Firey Tongues Festival, Ruigoord, Holland, 24-25 May
Ovada Warehouse, Oxford, 15 June
Glastonbury Festival, 26-28 June
Summerhall, Edinburgh, 14-22 August
Ranelagh Festival, Dublin, 18 September
The Cockpit, London, 29=31 October
Otherplace, Brighton, 20-21 November
Come and join us!
Here is the video of our performance (myself, Zena Edwards and Sai Murray) at the Freeword Centre. It's a part improvised performance of our piece Climate Change Kwansabas
My poem written in collaboration with Zena Edwards and Sai Murray has been published in Weatherfronts: Climate Change and the stories we tell, a collection of poetry commissioned by the Freeword centre and Tipping Point. Other poets include Sarah Butler, Nick Hunt, Stevie Ronnie, Dan Simpson. Our piece, Climate Change Kwansabas focused on the links between race and climate injustice.
We performed at the launch event on 26 January at the Freeword centre as well as took part in a panel discussion where we talked about the role of writing, poetry in tackling climate change.
A PDF of the collection can be found here.
You can also listen to some of the discussions we had on the night below
I got a nice little mention in an article about Black Female poets alongside Yrsa Daley Ward, Myah Jeffers and, Justina Kehinde and Sophie Thakur.
Check out the article here
So I am performing at the BAC Artist as Activist Scratch night as part of the emerging artists programme I have been a part of for the past 10 weeks.
It has been such a privilege to meet and work so many interesting artists- a definite eye opener. I had many ideas for new work, but I decided to work on something which feels predominately personal, but which is, by default, political. It feels like a subtle shift in the kinds of work i might usually do.
So, I have developed the beginnings a piece about the representation of black women- how they fluctuate from being hyper-visible and hyper sexual - often music, film and other sources of entertainment - to being underrepresented and invisible- in spheres of respectability- politics, business and other sphere of respectability. How do ordinary women navigate through these two extremes?
I'll be performing the work I've done so far at the scratch night on 4-5 December at 7pm and 8.45pm respectively, it would be lovely to see you there. For further details, click here
As part of SOAS black history month, I spoke on a panel about separatism within the feminist movement with academic Victoria Showunmi and Madeleine Stack.
Hosted by HYSTERIA and Wolf Whistled North, it was a great event with some really interesting debates. The starting point to our talk was really interesting so i thought I would share
I've been selected to be part of an artist development programme at the BAC as part of their Homegrown programme. It's a 10 week course exploring the theme of the artist as an activist- music to my ears!
Over the next ten weeks, 20 artists of many disciplines will be mentored by artists such as Scottee, the Vacuum Cleaner, Selina Thompson and Nic Green.
The programme will culminate in a scratch night of our work. I love the BAC and the work they do so I'm really looking forward to this. Will share details of the scratch night event closer to the time
Hello Oxford Folk, fancy an evening of poetry?
For national poetry day, I'll be performing at 18.00 at the Story Museum in Oxford with the Emma Press. I'll be reading from the Home and Exile anthology alongside Holly Hopkins, Anja Konig and Stephen Sexton
Later on, the ever brilliant Kate Tempest will be performing Modern Art, Oxford at 20.00, all of which you can experience for only £10. A poetry bargain if ever I heard one.
Click here for further details.
The Thought Menu hosted an event in partnership with Makerhood.com on 13 September where I gave a talk on, 'What makes a poem?'. I was speaking alongside gamemaker Meg Jayanth, maker, coder and hacker Maya Bonkowski and interaction designer Mike Vanis soI definitely felt like my talk was alooser interpretation of 'making' however, it was a really interesting night.
As part of my talk, I spoke about the role of poetry and activism and how poetry unearths the unspoken. I showed this Skinhead by Patricia Smith.
Follow The Thought Menu on twitter to hearwhat they're up to @thoughtmenu
Home can be such a loaded term, can't it?
Well, Emma Press has decided to explore this and more in their Homesickness and Exile poetry anthology which is out on 18 September. My poems Before and Homecoming are in the collection. I'll be performing at the launch on 15 September at the lovely Tea House Theatre in Vauxhall, 19.00-22.00
There will so be readings from Alex Bell, James Coghill, Ellie Danak, Cath Drake, John Froy, Charlotte Higgins, Holly Hopkins, Gill Learner, John McCullough, Cheryl Moskowitz, Rachel Piercey, Vili Skarlopoulou and James Trevelyan, who all feature in the anthology