The Verb Celebrates 35 Years of Spoken Word (Radio 3) | iPlayer
The Adoption (Radio 4) | iPlayer
5 Live Daily (5 Live) | iPlayer
According to The Verb, spoken word poetry was born 35 years ago last week, which came as a surprise. Though I can’t really remember a time when spoken word wasn’t around. The surprise isn’t its age; it’s mine.
Anyhow, to celebrate, The Verb broadcast a special extended show on Friday, recorded in front of a live audience in Hull, this year’s City of Culture. Hosted, as ever, by the lovely Ian McMillan, the bill was varied and interesting, and the audience’s delight palpable, laughs and mmm-hmms buzzing in the background. This upbeat feel was reflected by the performers, who were on form. It was good to hear from women, from minority ethnic men. Poetry – the live, performed stuff – has long welcomed a diverse community. In the mid-to-late 80s I would sometimes find myself in smoky pubs or student union bars, listening to rhyming stories told in patois, in slogan, in silly limerick. Sometimes I loved these new poems, sometimes I didn’t.
But the thing about slam poetry, performance poetry, spoken word, whatever you want to call it, is that if you don’t like what you’re hearing, there’s always another poet ready to grab the mic. And so it was with The Verb. From time to time over the hour, I found myself zoning out (I’m not a fan of the overearnest and overperformed, the hectoring lecturers), but I tuned back in to the less obvious others. Dizraeli was poignant; John Hegley was conversational. He performs his poems as though they’re the most natural thing in the world, as though talking in rhyme is what we all do anyway.
I liked Hannah Silva‘s sweet take on the past, in which she took 1983 flyer descriptions of poets performing at Apples and Snakes, the performance poetry night that started 35 years ago, and turned them into lonely hearts ads. I enjoyed even more Yomi Sode’s punchy description of his life so far. The show zipped along, a series of bright indoor fireworks popping and fizzing to the joy of all those present.
A slower burn is The Adoption from Radio 4’s World at One. The story of a real-life adoption told in 17 daily 10- to 15-minute instalments, the final instalment was broadcast two weeks ago and you can now listen to the whole tale as a podcast. Have some tissues to hand. This isn’t a tough listen but, God, it’s heartbreaking.
Two young children, a girl of three and her brother, aged two, are about to be permanently placed with a new family. We hear from their birth parents, from the foster carer, from the potential adopters, from Sharon, their social worker. “Adoption is the last resort,” we are told, though the birth grandparents seem lovely (“sometimes I’m angry about the situation… it makes me upset when I talk about it”) and would like to bring up the children, but can’t because they already care for their older siblings. The birth mother thinks that social workers have got it wrong and the birth father cries. “I won’t see them again until they’re 18. If they want to see me then.” Reporter Jon Manel is respectful and careful and asks hard questions in the right way.
More powerful listening came from 5 Live Daily with Emma Barnett on Thursday. A listener, Catherine (not her real name), contacted the show wanting to tell her story. Catherine was raped and became pregnant. She decided to keep the child and doesn’t regret her decision, despite the fact that, as she said, she sees her rapist every time she looks in her son’s eyes. Despite being a pro-lifer’s dream, Catherine got in touch because she wanted to support women’s access to abortion. Barnett got a great interview from her. Real life can be full of drama, whether the story is told via poetry or a phone call.
