An interactive poetry project that invites people to experiment with different combinations of physical and poetic elements won the new wild card category at the Saboteur awards on Friday night. Abi Palmer’s Alchemy can be viewed as a live installation, or obtained as a boxset to play with at home. The project asks questions like, how does the smell of smoke change the way you hear a poem about drowning, or an incantation about breath? Would the same combination of elements produce the same effect for different listeners, or do responses vary? Based upon Robert Boyle’s challenge to classical Alchemy in 1661, the project invites listeners to play the early modern scientist, examining the conflict between literary and scientific reason.

Abi, pictured, went, er, a bit wild on hearing that she’d won. Like many other Saboteur award winners on Friday night, she received her prize of a bottle of Sacred Gin from the award sponsors with some glee. She pipped Deerheart, an art and poetry exhibition by Yvonne Reddick and Diana Zwibach, to the award.

On a noisy and cheery night at Vout-O-Reenees in London, in which compere James Webster sometimes had to appeal for quiet, especially in the second half of the evening, Emily Harrison, pictured left, won the best spoken word performer award, with Luke Wright the runner-up. She told the audience: “I write poetry about mental health,” adding that it was “really important” to put into words your reaction “to the shit’s that’s happened to you.” She read a poem titled ‘When Your Girlfriend Tells You She’s Bi- But You soon Find out She Meant Polar’, which concludes: “I’m not the one that got away … I’m worth the trouble to keep.”

Luke Wright’s What I Learned from Johnny Bevan won the best spoken word show, with Jemima Foxtrot in second place with Melody. Helen Ivory, pictured below, herself a winner for best collaborative work for Fool’s World – A Tarot with artist Tom de Freston  – picked up Luke’s award, and the gin, on his behalf.

Clive Birnie’s Burning Eye Books took the most innovative publisher award, after featuring on the Saboteur shortlists several times. It was accepted on Clive’s behalf by Burning Eye poet Andrew Graves, who had been shortlisted for best spoken word show. Second in the innovative publisher category was Indigo Dreams, run by Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling.

Indigo Dreams were able to celebrate the win of Stuart A Paterson, whose Border Lines won the best poetry pamphlet category. Stuart’s award was picked up by fellow IDP and Dumfries & Galloway poet Chrys Salt, who pointed out that the only Scot to be shortlisted in the category had come through the field to win. Tania Hershman’s Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open was runner-up.

Edinburgh’s Loud Poets were pipped in the best spoken word night category by Manchester’s Bad Language, winners for the second year running. Fat Roland, pictured right, from Bad Language picked up the award. Prole took the best magazine title, beating Open Pen.

Best anthology was Being Dad: Short Stories About Fatherhood; best novella was The Lost Art of Sinking; and best short story collection was Dinosaurs on Other Planets.

Bethany W Pope won the best reviewer award, beating last year's winner Dave Coates into second place. She told the audience: “I didn’t prepare a speech on the bus coming up from Swindon – I didn’t think I’d win – but what I will say is, when you’re a reviewer, it is part of a larger conversation … I’m glad to be able to participate in this extended conversation.”    

At the end of the awards the night went on, with a lot of extended conversations taking place. It was the third Saboteur awards night that I have attended, and had by far the best atmosphere, by my reckoning. These coveted awards, masterminded by the founder of Sabotage Reviews, Clare Trevien, have come of age.

You can check the full results here   

 

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