Write Out Loud has always taken pride in providing a platform for poetry nights around the country to publicise what they’re doing and to show how poetry thrives in what are – perhaps – unexpected places. We noted that two of the winners of our recently-launched Poem of the Week are poets from Hull, so we contacted Jim Higo, who runs legendary Hull poetry night Away With Words, to ask him about the scene there.

 

You've been hosting Away With Words for several years now. How did that come about?

It happened purely by chance. I attended a meeting for Hull’s Vista street festival in an attempt to arrange a gig for myself. Dave Stead the ex-Beautiful South drummer was organising the festival and he somehow managed to persuade me to run a full spoken word stage at the event.  It went so well that he suggested I start regular monthly events at his Union Mash Up venue. At the time there was only one other similar event locally so we decided to give it a go and Away With Words was born.  

 

What's it like keeping a spoken word night going without any funding support? How do you do it? Any tips for people wanting to do the same?

It’s a constant challenge.  We are lucky that we have a fantastic venue which is perfect for performance and Dave and his venue manager Pat are very supportive. Lack of funding means we have to finance the night ourselves and we made a commitment from the outset to make the night free for everyone. We book a guest from out of town every month and we pay their fee from the money we raise via a raffle on the night. We promise a minimum fee to the acts or all the funds from the raffle if that is more. It means it is harder to attract guests from further afield but so far we’ve had a constant stream of top-quality performers coming along. Starting a night from scratch with no funding is a hard slog and there is no secret formula to making it work. My tip is to find what best suits you in terms of format, pricing and venue and don’t be put off by the inevitable disappointments. Work hard at raising the profile of your night, make it as enjoyable, entertaining and welcoming as possible and don’t expect to make any money from it.  

 

Write Out Loud recently introduced a Poem of the Week, chosen from submissions to the site each week. Two of the first four winners were from Hull. What do you think contributes to the strength of the Hull scene?

Yes, it was great to see Mike Watts and Peter Knaggs winning, although no surprise as they are both brilliant poets and performers.  Hull has always had a vibrant poetry and spoken word scene.  It’s been described as “the most poetic city in England” and “as good a place to write in as any”, coincidentally by two non-Hull born poets.  Hull has a very distinct identity and a unique history that generates a wealth of subject matter, and Hull people are both proud and protective of their city whilst also being its biggest critics. Hull is never short of a voice and the current scene is as exciting as I can remember it being for a long time with new nights, publications and events cropping up all over the city.       

 

Are there any disadvantages of being out on a geographical limb? Or does that question show a misunderstanding of Hull?

As Mr Larkin said, “I never thought about Hull until I was here.” And this probably sums up the overriding views of most people.  There are disadvantages to being at the end of the line, geographically speaking, in that we don’t get to benefit from out of town support as much as we might in other places. We do tend to be somewhat overlooked regionally and nationally at times although hopefully 2017 will go some way to remedying this. The distance can cause issues in attracting out of town guests to Hull especially for unfunded events on a very limited budget but generally our location hasn’t been a big problem.         

 

Hull is going to be City of Culture in 2017. What does this mean to you, if anything? Do you see any opportunities for Away With Words in conjunction with it?

City of Culture 2017 will almost certainly raise the profile of Hull and we are looking forward to the delivery of some excellent, top-class events. At a local level it is unlikely to make a great deal of difference. There are some City of Culture opportunities that we are exploring to potentially add to the events that we already put on but long-term it is unlikely that there will be any significant lasting local legacy. Hull has always had a great cultural identity and I’m sure this will continue long after Martin Green [Hull City of Culture chief executive] and Rosie Millard [City of Culture chair] have gone home.

 

Any future plans you want to share with us?

We are collaborating with A Firm of Poets to put on some events as part of the Hull Freedom festival this summer with some massive headline acts and we’re putting on an Away With Words stage at the Vista festival. We’re also going to be doing some children’s workshops with local groups that will lead to them performing at Away With Words events. And we plan for Away With Words to be a vital part of a flourishing Hull poetry scene well into the future.

 

Main picture shows Matt Black, a poet based in Sheffield and Leamington Spa, performing at Hull’s Away With Words