The clock is ticking if you want to vote for the Saboteur awards for best spoken word performer, best spoken word show, or best spoken word night, with a total of 12 categories (voting deadline midnight tonight). Without seeking to influence your choice, we spoke to a few of  the contenders. First up Raymond Antrobus. 

You’re up for a Saboteur award in the best spoken word performer category. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your work?

Well, I’m 26, currently doing an MA in spoken word education (the first course of its kind anywhere) I host and curate poetry events around London but my main one is Chill Pill – I have also published a poetry collection with Burning Eye called Shapes & Disfigurements of Raymond Antrobus.

 

What are your current projects?

The Big One is the next Chill Pill event at the Albany on 23 May. It features four poets from the biggest poetry shows around London, and Benin City headlining. Buy your tickets now! 

 

People have got to vote for their favourite in each category. What's your one-sentence “pick me” pitch?

I’m going to go for the sympathy vote … my cat just died, so please don’t make my life any harder.

 

What do you most love about being a poet?

It is exciting – you never know what’s coming next. It has setbacks, of course – because that also means you don’t know when your next pay check is coming. But getting to travel and meet other poetry communities nationally and internationally is incredible.

 

What do you think is most challenging?

Did I tell you I only own two pairs of jeans and some books? Also, I have no pension.

 

Next up is Katie Bonna who, along with her co-star Richard Marsh, is competing in the best spoken word show category.

 

Your show Dirty Great Love Story  is a contender for a Saboteur award. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

It started life as a 10-minute poem, which we wrote as a bit of an experiment in our front rooms in Tooting. We liked the silly voices and jokes about awkward situations and other people seemed to like it too. After the success of Richard’s one-man show Skittles, on the Edinburgh Fringe 2011, we decided to turn it into a play.  People like to call it a rom-com. We don’t call it a rom-com. We sometimes call it a rom-com. It pretty much is a rom-com. With heart. And awkwardness. And rhymes. 

My mum’ll be dead chuffed if we win (and she’s really nice).

 

How do you feel about being up for this award?

Really honoured. This show has been close to our sole focus for the last two years and it grew from the world of spoken word, so it feels great for that world to acknowledge it and support it in this way.

 

What have you enjoyed most or been most proud of when writing and starring in your own poetry play?

I probably most enjoyed performing at Latitude festival last year, which was something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I wouldn’t work in theatre if it wasn’t for a fierce force of a Welsh woman called Diana Griffiths. She was my poetry and acting teacher for years back home in Shropshire. She has sadly passed away now, but her daughter came to see the show in Soho and she hugged me for about 10 minutes afterwards. We didn’t speak, we couldn’t. It was about as close to Mrs Griffiths seeing it as is possible. That was my proudest moment. That and when my mum saw it (remember how nice she is? She’s really nice).

 

What's next for DGLS?

Excitingly, we are going to New York in June (please pass on to any Big Apple biters!  for a three-week run as part of the Brits Off Broadway festival. After that we’re back at Latitude with the full play in the theatre tent. It’s going to be a summer of adventures and joy. And dirtiness.

 

And finally we spoke to James Bunting, editor of spoken word anthology Rhyming Thunder – The Alternative Book of Young Poets. 

 

Can you tell us a bit more about this book and how you came to edit it?

I used to work for a charity in Bristol that helped young poets. Through this the publisher approached Jack Dean and I to edit the book, as something we had discussed in the past. There is a tendency in the literary world to throw the term “young” around, and it really grates. Some of the poets being called “young” were born in the 1970s, which isn't to detract from their credibility or obvious skill, but calling them “young” seems to rather miss the point. Rhyming Thunder is as much about putting performance poetry on the page as it is to use the term “young” in its true sense. With that, it also made sense for young poets to edit the book.

 

Are you a poet yourself? 

I am indeed. I started writing when I was young and turned to performing when I was 19. I drifted for a couple of years until I took part in my first slam where I came second to Deanna Roger,  then national slam champion. It gave me the buzz and drive to keep going and after some good gigs and guidance from Apples and Snakes and Hammer and Tongue, I got to where I am today.

 

What's the best thing about spoken word poetry, in your opinion? 

The best thing is always the audience. I know I couldn't sound more cliché, but if you can get 10, 50 even 500 people to be quiet and listen to you essentially talking, then you've done something amazing. All spoken word would be redundant without those crowds. It's even better when the audience are unsure or new to poetry or a particular poet; watching scepticism turn to passion and joy from someone's poem is such an amazing thing to see and can change an evening.

 

You've got a one-sentence pitch for those voting for you for this award. What is it?

Rhyming Thunder was born out of a belief and a passion to do things differently for poetry. I you think we've achieved that then your vote will justify our late nights, long mornings, blood, sweat, ink and tears.

 

The results will be announced on 29 May at the Saboteur awards party