Calypso, cabaret, a cultural collision: John Agard maps out his view of Columbus
John Agard believes in the “subliminal” power of poetry. In Portsmouth before his new one-man show, Roll Over Atlantic, which is about the “cultural collision” between Columbus and the “New World”, he said he had no intention of being academic or ideological in his approach. Agard, who won the Queen’s Medal for Poetry in 2012, instead wanted to explore this “highly-fraught encounter” that has oft...
2nd November 2015
'Poetry books will sell if people can relate to what you are writing': Attila the Stockbroker
Performance poet and musician Attila the Stockbroker has been on the road for 35 years, and in that time has appeared at around 3,400 gigs, “shouting poems and thrashing songs” on his mandola – and now has a highly entertaining autobiography, Arguments Yard, out to prove it. In an interview with Gr...
8th October 2015
'Looking beyond the obvious': Write Out Loud interviews Owen Lowery
Owen Lowery is a former British judo champion and poet. He suffered a spinal injury while competing and is now a tetraplegic. In an interview he tells Greg Freeman about reading his poetry in public w...
30th July 2015
'The pleasures of performing include the frisson that it might all go wrong - and the nice cup of tea afterwards': Kate Fox
Stand-up poet and writer Kate Fox has been a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, and has two new shows due to be aired on Radio 4 this month. In an email interview with Greg Freeman, she talks abo...
30th June 2015
'There's no reason why poetry should have such a small readership': Paul McMenemy on his plans for a poetry bookshop
A crowdfunding appeal to raise £5,000 to fund a poetry bookshop in London has ended up just a few hundred pounds short of its target. In an interview with Frances Spurrier, the man behind the idea, Pa...
8th June 2015
'Poetry should have bite and snarl, but it's better for joy and sadness than anger': Luke Wright
Energetic performance poet and broadcaster Luke Wright has a new show out – and he’s still touring with his old one, too. He was performing his new production, What I Learned from Johnny Bevan, at the...
1st June 2015
‘There’s no real reason why poetry should have such a small readership’: Write Out Loud interviews Paul McMenemy about his planned poetry bookshop
A crowdfunding appeal to raise £5,000 to fund a poetry bookshop in London is still looking for more cash, with a few days left to hit its target. In an interview with Frances Spurrier, the man behind ...
31st May 2015
Jackie Hagan: 'I figured I might as well milk the one-legged thing'
Jackie Hagan was a well-known and popular poet on the Manchester scene and beyond when she went into hospital - and came out minus one leg. Now she is touring with her show, Some People Have Too Many ...
10th May 2015
The 'Grandfather of Albion' at 80: Write Out Loud interviews Michael Horovitz
Veteran poet, performer and impresario Michael Horovitz - a key figure with Allen Ginsberg behind the celebrated Albert Hall poetry incarnation of June 1965 – celebrated his 80th birthday at Easter wi...
9th April 2015
'I've been shocked at the emotional impact': Write Out Loud interviews Louise Fazackerley
Last year spoken word artist Louise Fazackerley - pictured, seated - was one of the three winners of BBC The Verb’s New Voices commission with her work Love is a Battlefield, set in Afghanistan and in...
22nd March 2015
Hollie McNish: 'My mum worked night shift as a nurse and had two kids. This is nothing!'
Two of her YouTube videos have been seen a total of more than three million times. Last month leading performance poet Hollie McNish won a £10,000 Arts Foundation award for spoken word. In April she p...
25th February 2015
The search for peace after war: one former soldier's story
“The war starts the day you leave the army …” Former soldier Lee Blunt talks to Frances Spurrier about the impetus behind his new book of poems, From the Trench to the Park Bench: a reflection on the...
16th February 2015
War poet Dan O'Brien: 'I want to move the reader. Empathy is the goal'
It began when American playwright and poet Dan O’Brien heard an interview with Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Paul Watson, in which Watson said he felt haunted by the ghost of the dead US sold...
12th February 2015
'Separating and combining the senses': the art of the poetry film
Have you ever wondered about combining your poetry with film? Frances Spurrier interviews Zata Kitowski, director of PoetryFilm, about the creative possibilities involved in the art form.
Than...
2nd January 2015
