POETRY AND SETTLED STATUS FOR ALL – PRE-LAUNCH EVENT REVIEW

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Alexandros Plasatis, Ambrose Musiyiwa, artivism, Aryan Ashory, barrington gordon, Birgit Friedrich, Catherine Okoronkwo, chad norman, civicleicester, david owen, event, featured, gregory woods, Home Office, hubert moore, immigration, Malka al-Haddad, michelle witthaus, migration, Monica Manolachi, Munya Radzi, Nils Kobis, poems, poetry, Poetry and Settled Status for All, reading, review, settled, settler, translation, uk, Zsófia Hacsek.

by Richard Byrt

Last December, I attended a pre-launch of the anthology, Poetry and Settled Status for All, edited by Ambrose Musiyiwa, and published by CivicLeicester in January, 2022. The event was held on Zoom as part of the 8th annual Leicester Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. A recording of the event is available, through CivicLeicester on YouTube.

The poems and short prose pieces in the Poetry and Settled Status for All anthology, including those read at the pre-launch, concern the experiences of refugees, people seeking asylum and other immigrants.

ART THE ARMS FAIR

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Anna Kahn, arms fair, arms fair london, Art The Arms Fair, Attilla The Stockbroker, CAAT, campaign against arms trade, Carl Heap, Dizraeli, Hannah Chutzpah, Kids Company, Madi Madwell-Libby, MC, poems, poetry, Reprieve, spoken word, spoken word artist, Stop the Arms Fair, The Story Beast.

by Carmina Masoliver

CW: sexism, war

Who knew there was an arms fair happening in London? Well, it was news to me before I went to Art The Arms Fair for an event of protest poetry – just one night in a series of events aiming to raise awareness about this issue. All profits from events go to CAAT (Campaign Against the Arms Trade), with original artwork and prints for sale. Work has been donated from all over the world, including both established artists and emerging. It was rumoured that Banksy had a piece there too, which was later confirmed, raising £205,000 for Reprieve and Campaign Against Arms Trade.

REVIEW: BETTER WATCH YOUR MOUTH, BY JENN HART

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged artivism, better watch your mouth, book, Burning Eye Books, chapbook, collection, family, feminism, gender, growing up, imagery, Jenn Hart, language, performance, poems, poet, poetry, politics, reading, review, spoken word, ugh men, women, women writers, writing.

by Carmina Masoliver

The cover of Better Watch Your Mouth displays a set of lips and teeth pulling the kind of expression you would make after being told such a thing. It suggests an unapologetic rejection of censorship, which is later reflected in the poem ‘Ugh, Men’ with the statement ‘we will not censor ourselves (x3)’.

This is a collection that mixes everyday language with profound metaphor, and beautiful imagery with emotive stories. It begins with the telling of others’ stories and gradually becomes more personal, yet in a way that is also relatable, as time skips back and forth like the mind floating back to memories, some singed with pain and others with nostalgia.

REVIEW: A BOOK OF FRAGMENTS AND DREAMS, REBECCA McMANUS

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Community and tagged #readwomen, A Book of Fragments and Dreams, alcohol, answers, beginnings, collection, craft, creative writing, dreams, endings, flight, honesty, human nature, in memory, Lewis Buxton, love, midsummer, new release, norfolk, norwich, poems, poetry, poetry collection, questions, read women, Rebecca McManus, review, seasons, swans, time, UEA, UEA Live, unflinching, university, University of East Anglia, Unthank Cameo.

by Lewis Buxton

Despite being called A Book of Fragments and Dreams, the poems in Rebecca McManus’ collection are far from fragmentary. They speak loudly to one another and are rooted decisively in the people, places, and objects of her life. Unthank Cameo has released this collection posthumously after Rebecca McManus was killed by a speeding driver whilst waiting at a bus stop. She was 21 and just weeks away from graduating from the University of East Anglia.Continue Reading

REVIEW: GRITO DE MUJER FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Inter|national and tagged artivism, arts, Carmina Masoliver, computer generated images, cordoba, digital native, emotion, FGM, flamenco, gender, gender violence, Grito de Mujer, language, Maria Pizarro, music, no more page 3, patriarchy, performance, poems, poetry, Rape culture, review, Sergio Perez Rodrigeuz, She Grrrowls, spain, translation, womanhood, women artists.

by Carmina Masoliver

Whilst living in Spain – though I have missed my loved ones – what I have missed most is the abundance of poetry and arts nights you can find in London. It wasn’t long before I arrived in Córdoba that I went in search of events. I saw an old poster for a “Poetry Slam” at the Jazz Café, but it didn’t appear to exist any more. I then stumbled upon Mujeres Poetas Internacional. I contacted founder Jael Uribe, from the Dominican Republic, and she soon responded and contacted the organisers in Córdoba, and even translated four of my own poems into Spanish.

I corresponded with Sergio Perez Rodrigeuz and Maria Pizarro, organisers of the Grito de Mujer at which I was booked to read. I emailed in Spanish, which perhaps led them to believe I could speak Spanish, which is certainly not the case (writing =/=speaking). There were awkward moments, such as me not realising a group photograph included me and having it retaken, and me staring blankly when trying to discuss the proceedings (thankfully an audience member with some English skills stepped in). But for a night of poetry where I could only pick out a few words, it showed that poetry was well and truly alive in Spain.Continue Reading

REVIEW: MOONRISE BY ELLA CHAPPELL

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged art review, arts, As Yet Untitled, bad nights, beauty, book review, Crescent, Donald Trump, Ella Chappell, emotion, external, feminism, flowers, fun, good nights, happiness, independent press, learn, Lewis Buxton, love, moon, moonrise, moons, NASA, night clubs, poems, poetry, poetry review, publisher, review, scientific theory, sex, sexual fantasies, stones, zinnia.

by Lewis Buxton

Moonrise’s publisher, As Yet Untitled, is an ‘independent press that specialises in limited edition, handmade works that embrace the breadth of possibility in the book’s form’. The book is beautifully made, a fragile thing one worries about reading with a cup of tea too close. Interesting then to consider the fragility of the book’s form with the robustness of the poems. Moonrise, by Ella Chappell, is a book about sex and love and flowers and moons and stones and good nights and bad nights and scientific theories and the gravity that pulls at us all. These aren’t new themes. But that’s what I like about this book; there is at once a familiarity to it but still a newness in the words, a fresh light on the scene.Continue Reading

REVIEW – AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT, BY INUA ELLAMS

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Anglo-Irish-Nigerian, art, belonging, black communities, Buckingham Palace, CCT, Christianity, divestment movement, english speakers, gender, Home Office, immigrants, interview wth an immigrant, inua ellams, Islam, italian speakers, Italy, Kevin Spacey, language, literature, litscape, Margarita T. Pouso, masculinity, migration, Muslim, Nigeria, non masculine, original poetry, poems, PokemonGO, prato, Rabid Puppoes, racism, review, See City, stories, teenage mutant hero nerds, theresa may, vagina monologues, voice.

by Alex Valente

I moved back to Prato, Italy, last March. I thought I’d left behind the UK poetry scene, so very different in Italy in so many ways. Then, my own hometown organises a whole series of free events, including poetry nights – and invites Inua Ellams to perform his An Evening with an Immigrant show. Did you really think I wouldn’t attend, notebook in hand?Continue Reading

A PLACE FOR POETRY

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged Beyonce, bob dylan, haruki murakami, hip hop, LEMONADE, music, ngugi wa thiong'o, nobel, poems, poetry, rap, tarantula, Warsan Shire.

by Candice Nembhard

The Nobel Prize for Literature is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated and respected arts prizes in the calendar year. Previous winners include Harold Pinter, V.S. Naipaul and Toni Morrison – all of whom have gone on to achieve worldwide and commercial success. This year’s prize was awarded to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who – surprisingly – only ever wrote one novel. The Blonde on Blonde singer was awarded the honour over rumoured nominees Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Haruki Murakami.‘Having created new poetic expressions within the American songbook tradition’, Dylan’s surrealist, stream-of-consciousness protest lyrics have been given the Nobel stamp of approval – but what impact does this have on our understanding of this increasingly popular form?

FORTY POUNDS

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged arts, bank, bankers, daily mail, debt, dissent, economy, food bank, freelance, hustle, poem, poems, poetry, politics, Queen, train, train ticket, trains, web design.

by Robyn Banks

Is this vague dissent I feel?
Or apathy? Resigned to fates
Predicted, and foodbank meals,
By sociologists and states,Continue Reading

RADICAL POETS AT THE UEA POETRY FESTIVAL

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Community and tagged #readwomen, arts, event, gig, LDC, liteature, norfolk, norwich, plug, poems, Poetic Project, poetry, poets, radical, radical poets, Sandeep Parmar, Sean Bonney, UEA, University of East Anglia, WCN, women poets, Writers Centre Norwich, writing.

by Fern Richards

Over the past couple of years, the UEA Poetics Project has been doing the important job of sneaking radical poets into the institution without much fanfare. The Norwich Radical featured an article by Linda Russo fairly recently – one of the readers at the last Poetics Project event – but apart from that, not a huge amount has been written about these readings. As a fan of radical poetry, political poetry, anti-establishment poetry, I thought it might be worth giving a small preview of the second UEA Poetry Festival, or at least its featured readers, Sandeep Parmar and Sean Bonney.Continue Reading

poems

POETRY AND SETTLED STATUS FOR ALL – PRE-LAUNCH EVENT REVIEW

by Richard Byrt

ART THE ARMS FAIR

REVIEW: BETTER WATCH YOUR MOUTH, BY JENN HART

REVIEW: A BOOK OF FRAGMENTS AND DREAMS, REBECCA McMANUS

REVIEW: GRITO DE MUJER FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT

REVIEW: MOONRISE BY ELLA CHAPPELL

REVIEW – AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT, BY INUA ELLAMS

A PLACE FOR POETRY

FORTY POUNDS

RADICAL POETS AT THE UEA POETRY FESTIVAL

Support the Radical

Subscribe

by Richard Byrt

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Support the Radical

Subscribe