London

I’m discussing the rigours of the spoken word with Niall O’Sullivan, poet, compere and organiser of the Poetry Unplugged open mic evenings at the Poetry Café. Unplugged is an evening where amateurs and professionals alike take turns to read their own poems aloud. It’s a free-for-all with no restrictions – anyone with a sonnet or a limerick in them can get up and have a bash. With some 50 poets and their families and friends all crammed into a hot and sweaty Covent Garden basement, it can seem a daunting prospect – not least for me, as tonight I’m planning to take my turn alongside London’s aspiring poets with my own lyrical composition. Feature continues

Unassuming and ordinary, the regulars at the Poetry Café might look an unlikely lot to be at the forefront of a trend, but right now the spoken word (many poets hate the term performance poetry) is breaking out all over town and topping the bill in unexpected places. Every day the Poetry Library adds a fistful of new listings to its website. When hip Camden bar At Proud opened in July one of the first events it held was a poetry recital, attracting a clutch of celebrities, including Sadie Frost and Lisa Moorish (who even read some of her lyrics, but don’t let that put you off). Meanwhile, last week on the other side of town in Spitalfields, the Spitz bar’s Wednesday night line-up included several of London’s most avant-garde spoken-word artists. Poets are also being booked up for festivals and cabaret nights such as Lost Vagueness and Sweet &

Sour at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. So what on earth’s going on?

‘In entertainment terms, poetry has always been the limpy kid to comedy but, in the last 12 months, there’s been a definite upsurge in interest,’ says Tim Wells, author of the poetry collection ‘Boys’ Night Out in the Afternoon’, which has been nominated for the Forward Poetry Prize. ‘In the early ’80s, spoken verse was all about political ranting, but now it’s moved on to become a social night out. I think people are more interested in poetry than we give them credit for. If someone’s telling you something honest through a poem, then it’ll be something you can relate to.’

Though now in the midst of resurgence, spoken word has a rich history in the capital. ‘The progression has been quite fragmented,’ says Nathan Penlington, an alternative poet who has written an MA thesis on the subject and also hosts the Short Fuse poetry night. ‘Many modern poets are performing without realising all their influences.’ Allen Ginsberg’s electrifying reading at the Poetry Olympics at the Albert Hall in 1965 first awakened ’60s London to the drama and vitality of performance poetry. Then the Liverpool Poets, including Roger McGough and Brian Patten, who recited their poetry publicly long before they ever secured a publishing deal, carried the mantle into the ’70s. John Hegley’s mix of poetry, anecdote and song, which he used to perform at The Comedy Store and on John Peel sessions in the early ’80s has proved inspirational, if unconsciously so, to today’s poets – as has the States’ Slam poetry movement, which pits poets against one another in three-minute battles.