Danny Chivers

Biography

Danny Chivers started performing poetry in 2006 and now can’t seem to stop. Never one to shy away from controversy, his poems tackle subjects such as climate change, the war on terror, and world domination by militant pigeons. He believes that humour, sarcasm, dodgy rhymes and pop culture references are all suitable weapons in the fight against global injustice and against people who compare him to a fictional teenage wizard. Danny became Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Poetry Champion in 2007 and has since performed at festivals, comedy nights, benefit gigs, youth clubs, conferences, campfires, Borough Council award ceremonies and in front of lines of riot police around the UK. In 2009 he reached the semi-finals of the Radio 4 National Poetry Slam. His work appears in the anthologies “This Poem Is Sponsored By...” (www.corporatewatch.org.uk) and “Re:Versing The Damage: Notes From The Climate Journey” (www.the-nail.co.uk), and has been broadcast on Radio New Internationalist (www.newint.org/radio). He has a number of poetry videos online - for an example, go to www.tennerfilms.com and click on "Completed". He is a freelance environmental writer, researcher, and activist based in Oxford. Various aspects of his work can be found online at http://adaisythroughconcrete.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/dannychivers. “Oxford’s witty eco-warrior” – Truck Festival “Half master of witty banter, half eerily reasonable prophet of environmental Armageddon” – Radio Foreplay “A star in the making” – John Rivers, Fifth Estate

Samples

A Billion Pounds So Far, Apparently (by Danny Chivers, February 2009) Today I awoke into a bright, white, living nightmare. I stared, horrified, as the fat flakes settled gently On my driveway and lawn Topping each gatepost with a fluffy white fez Transforming the hedgerow into an indigestible But beautiful Christmas cake, And I cried “Oh my God! What about the ECONOMY?” As I walked to the park I stared with mounting panic At the parked cars adorning the street Each coated three inches deep Or with patches swept clean Arsenals for snowball fights I almost wept to think of the petrol not being burned Of the mindless tasks not being performed In offices thirty miles away. In the park, it only got worse. Children and adults were laughing together Whole streets united in play Great snowy constructions were rising from the ground As the treacherous flakes continued to fall Ramps, forts and igloos, A menagerie of assorted snow-beings Icy sculptures of ethereal beauty Or lumpy majesty My head went light and I struggled not to faint At the thought of all that creativity Hard work and productivity Not being spent on the tedious administrative tasks And the learning of pointless facts by rote So vital to the functioning of a modern economy. A newly fostered sense of community Of shared experience and humanity And the kind of childlike wonder That reminds us that it’s good to be alive Is all very well But it’s not going to revive the flagging share index now, is it? I went back home to get my snowplough - They’ll thank me for this one day.

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.