A call to all the poets... word!
We hear occasional mentions of back street urban poetry events in London and still in certain parts of the globe it is something that gets commercial support due to it's appeal and huge audiences. The modern day equivalent of those who were traditionally termed as 'poets' are the singers, the rappers, the spoken word MC's, maybe even the film makers- but what we are calling for are the folks that use the term 'poet' in their CV or their email signatures. The Maya Angelou;s of now. The Sylvia Plath's, the Robert Burns, the Shakespeare's even... maybe James Cameron, Simon Cowell, Russell Brand, and all those choosing alternative mediums to tell stories or convey messages are the real poets of today, and the traditional form is extinct... we would love to hear your opinions.
We recall memories of the famous Def Jam poetry events in the US- much footage is up on Youtube so have a peruse and maybe even get inspired to put traditional pen to paper (or hand to keyboard!) and send us a link to your work. As lovers of creativity and the creative process in all it's forms, we would be honored to view your creations.
Check prime examples below of 2 (of many!) dynamic, powerful and charismatic modern urban poets of the world- firstly the mighty Saul Williams who doesn't label himself as a rapper which he could easily do... he is a performance poet in every sense of the word. And to bring in the Yin to our Yang, if you haven't heard of the beautiful Suheir Hammad, be prepared to be moved, and maybe shed a tear at her powerful and thoughtful expression.
We salute all the poets of the past and the present... and call out to all the poets of the future to look us up.
If you or anyone you know are running poetry or spoken word events in the UK or have footage from abroad, send us details so we can grace our presence maybe.
And to close on a quote by poet + philosopher from the history books who sums up the very real reasons why poetry is so important today, and he does so far more eloquently than we ever could:
"The distinction between historian and poet is not in the one writing prose and the other verse... the one describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that might be. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver importance than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars." ~Aristotle
SAUL WILLIAMS:
SUHEIR HAMMAD:
