An inspiring night of witty wordplay and transportive storytelling by slam poetry powerhouses
As anyone who’s been to the Old Fire Station in Oxford will know, it’s a welcoming venue of committed localists. On a chilly November evening, the atmosphere inside was merry and sociable — the room filled with the kind of cerebral chatter you might expect from an Oxford crowd. An utterly charming set up for someone completely new to the world of slam poetry.
Poet aficionado and compère Tina Sederholm introduced the evening with effervescence and charm, dressed in a fantastic cherry-red velvet jumpsuit (that fully deserves its own shout out). “Poetry can shine a light on the darkness and chaos,” Tina noted, revealing the theme of the slam: hope. Reflecting on recent weeks (nay, months, years) of harrowing global affairs, it’s nights such as this — witty, silly, transportive — that felt all the more a privilege to attend.
Tina kicked off her set by holding a mirror up to the very nature of being a performance poet, its associated communities and somewhat pretentious events frequented by the “poetry illuminati”. Her work poignantly combines memoir, humour and realism to interrogate what it means to make art in our modern society, from the very placement of a comma to what one’s lasting cultural legacy might be. Alongside the neat sarcasm and intellectual reckonings, her sunshiney attitude was completely enthralling.
“Doom… is so now,” announced Danny Chivers, who next took to the mic. Declaring his poetry as profoundly political, he admitted it felt somewhat challenging to apply the theme of hope to the current state of politics. His humility then gave way to dynamic verse injected with clever quips and rhymes; the upbeat pace of his speech matching the frenzied state of our society. I particularly loved his poem imagining Oxford as a place of joy, nature and art, asleep beneath the grubby toxins and everyday anger nurtured in a modern city. Contrary to his opening statement, Danny’s poetry was affecting in its optimism. “The momentum of the future flows through those who dare to bear it”.
Cheltenham’s poetry slam champion Clare Bold followed, commencing her performance with Teaching Assistant, a striking depiction of our education system’s unsung heroes. Her persuasive, eloquent verse was cut with biting asides that had the audience grinning. In an powerful juxtaposition, Clare then turned to the topic of sexual violence and toxic masculinity with expert emotional handling. I loved her down-to-earth demeanour and phenomenal ability to create a poem out of lines scribbled by the audience, conjured in less than fifteen minutes.
Having been writing and performing slam poetry since their teenage years, Em Pritchard’s set glowed with their masterful use of language and soft sentimentality. In a comparably few lines, they captured the quiet beauty of human experience in its everyday and extraordinary parts. In a couple of poems, the reference to familiar songs — No Other Way, Halo, Uptown Girl — was powerful, a nod to how our generation romanticises through music and the soundtracking of daily life. I found calming comfort in the line: “So what if I don’t have a plan. The light is warm through the bus window,” a reminder that there is pleasure and peace in the day-to-day, even if we don’t have our futures mapped out.
Before hearing from headliner Tyrone Lewis, there was a hilarious segment where our poets narrated verse from their teenage years. It was full of longing, melodrama and those fiery feelings belonging to a young person’s political mind. Then we were blessed with verse by poetry vanguard Tyrone, who kindly travelled from London for the show. His poems went hard and fast, his language rapturous across difficult topics of race and familial relationships. Tyrone’s most devastating poem about his mother’s illness was powerful in the absence of certain language: “She will tell you she has her star sign”. Then, as a film editor and self-proclaimed lover of cinema, he showcases his poetic genius with a Fast and Furious sonnet. His eclectic mix of verse, taken largely from his two books Blackish and 2 Black 2 Furious, is permeated with intelligence and I look forward to following his journey of continued artistic success.
This was one of the most enjoyable, inspiring and hopeful nights of performance art I’ve recently attended. These poets offered warmth, intimacy and stimulation across such a broad range of topics. I can’t wait for more spoken word events from these artists and at the Old Fire Station — if I could give this night more stars than five, I would.