Spoken Word

The poetry community over the past couple of weeks have been split over poet and critic Rebecca Watts' essay "The Cult in of the Nobel Amateur". Writing in the PN Review, Watts argues against "the rise of a cohort of young female poets",…

Yes, that Saul Williams. And yes, I can barely contain myself. Saul Williams is thusly described on Wikipedia: Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor.…

Rising to prominence as the frontman for legendary hardcore act Black Flag, Henry Rollins has since become an alternative icon. Initially striking due to his muscled and tattooed physique and emotionally intense performances, Rollins soon…

Words With Teeth is happening in the Workman's Club, Dublin on October 18th as part of the Lingo Festival. Author Sarah Maria Griffin and Humourist Damon Blake will be pitting six Irish writers against each other as they read brand new…

Inja is one of the UK’s most energetic, crowd-pleasing and versatile performers. An exceptional artist, MC and host whose work spans a huge variety of genres including dubstep, hip-hop, grime, drum ‘n’ bass, and freestyle poetry. He has…

Festival Frenzy Due to of the number of literary festivals and talks taking place over the coming weeks, I'll kick off this week with a compilation of just a few events of note; along with other news from the world of literature. …

Colm Keegan isn’t the sort of person you’d suspect would be one of Ireland’s leading spoken word and contemporary poets. You would never guess that he’s been shortlisted for multiple Hennessey’s, is the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Writer in…

Dublin’s spoken word scene is going from strength to strength, with established nights such as the previously featured Slam Sunday inspiring more writers to take to the mic. One such initiative is Flying South, a mental health-themed event…

MY MOTHER SPEAKS TO ME OF SUICIDE My mother calls me up again to speak to me of suicide. Another young man in the west has committed his suicide. She tells me that I knew him in my teenage years before I left home instead…

Library Love Letters A love note to a library? How often do we take the time to sit down and spill our hearts and feelings onto a page? If you are reading this and thinking ‘never’ then shame on you. Book Week Scotland has chosen a…