On the 7th October New College’s own John Godber Theatre was graced with the presence of four fantastic poets going by the name A Firm of Poets. Nine occupants of the college studying English and Drama were given the chance to read, write, and discuss poetry with the quartet as part of a workshop, given an insight to what the poets do now and how they got into their current positions.
A Firm of Poets are currently touring to promote their continually building E-Book: The People’s Republic of Poetry. The idea behind the E-Book is that it gives young poets from around Britain the chance to showcase their work alongside pre-existing published poets currently writing, performing, and touring.
After the event I caught up with Matt Abbott, a leading member of the Firm of Poets, and discussed how he wrote poetry and some of his inspirations over an exchange of messages on Twitter; he said:
"I think basically, as a poet your brain has this tendency to store up loads of visuals, phrases, emotions, memories, etcetera - a bit like a camel I guess - and whenever an idea comes up, you just run with it, and the relevant things fly out when you start writing […] I've always been heavily into realism. And as an adult, specifically into kitchen sink realism. Which is why, I guess, my stuff is about where I'm from and is fairly close to home.".
Abbot, a originally a local from Wakefield, finished our with:
"There's a fine line between making the bleak seem beautiful or illuminating the mundane, and simply
regurgitating bland, uninspiring crap in an attempt to capture realism, but I try!".
A Firm of Poets was founded by Matt Abbott and Ralph Dartford during a drunken walk at the 2013 Glastonbury festival, however officially debuted in Sheffield in September 2013. The duo sought to bring ‘vital, accessible, and energetic poetry to the masses’ and have done so ever since by presenting poetry as live entertainment.
Beth Gabbitas, a participating student, agreed with their aims saying “I enjoyed how modern and real it was! It was to the point and spoke about relevant, relatable issues.” as Matt spoke about Wakefield’s renowned Pie Shop, while Toria Garbutt’s (a former student of New College Pontefract) poetry reflected young love towards musicians.
Students laughed and teachers gasped at the fast paced, lyrical poetry performed including the sprinkling of expletives ranging from comedy to romantic, heavy-hearted dramas.
Or follow the team on twitter: @AFirmOfPoets #PROPoetry
Dan.
Dan.
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