This week Repeat Beat Poet is in conversation with poet, author, broadcaster, activist, and longstanding rabble-rousing doyenne of UK poetry, Salena Goddena. The pair reflect on Salena's career in poetry and literature, the inspirations behind her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death, and have a good chat about the complications and joys of writing to and through an embodiment of Death; like how facing loss and grief can teach us how to live, love, survive, and fight for a better world. There's al...
Oct 28, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Cece's Speakeasy (30th June-3rd July 2021) - https://applesandsnakes.org/project/ceces-speakeasy/ This week The Repeat Beat Poet speaks to writer, performer, creative director, and tarot-reading multi-faceted artist and activist Zena Edwards. The pair talk about navigating corporate spaces while maintaining integrity, the importance of orality and sound within self-expression, and how indigenous African peoples and systems of knowledge have guided Zena's work. The two poets also give some shine ...
Jun 27, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 131
The terms hard-working and “jack of all trades” get thrown around a lot, but Sarah Callaghan really embodies the two. She’s been a comedian for over ten years with shows across the world from Australia to Austria, and she made the move into poetry when she used it as a tool to work through a difficult period of her life. Poetry was a space that allowed for what comedy didn’t; a space where messages didn’t necessarily have to be funny to be let out and to be seriously received by an audience. It ...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 130
This week Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to poet , educator, and writer Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan. The pair start by speaking about overcoming the fears of speaking your truth publicly, learning to trust readers and publishers outside of immediate live audiences, and Suhaiymah's journey discovering poetry. Next, we jump into the thick fogs of British colonialism, spend some time naming and shaming it and discussing the legacy of inequality it leaves in how histories are held an...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 129
“A lot of the ethos that I learned from the punk scene – D.I.Y politics, inclusivity, that kind of thing – I brought with me into Burning Eye Books” - Bridget Hart This week Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to poet, editor, producer, publisher with Burning Eye Books, and Grease super-fan Bridget Hart. The pair start by discussing the ethos and success of Burning Eye as a leading independent poetry press in the UK, publishing spoken word artists, and Bridget shares a quick what...
Feb 10, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 128
This week Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to Hip Hop artist and former Sheffield Poet Laureate, Otis Mensah. They discuss how the concept of introspective documentarianism underpins Otis' work of building a personal identity and creative voice around artistic truth and vulnerability, through rap and poetry. There's also talk of surviving and decrying racial capitalism, and a breakdown of Otis' tenure as laureate. Otis reads three poems - 17:12 - Contrary To The Intangible Gra...
Feb 03, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 127
In his first full interview as host of the series, Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to poet, producer, and academic Katie Ailes. They speak about Katie's recent PhD study on performance and authenticity in UK Spoken Word poetry, the critical discourse around poetry, and firmly refute the idea that the talented craftspeople emerging from the spoken word scene are 'Noble Amateurs'. Katie reads three poems - Outwith - 07:37 Soft Animal - 27:18 Spangled - 1:03:33 Download a full t...
Jan 20, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 126
In his final episode as host of the series, David Turner talks to Stephen Lightbown about his debut poetry collection Only Air (Burning Eye Books), writing as a wheelchair user and his experience of attending online events during the UK Covid-19 lockdown. Stephen reads three poems. Download a full transcript of this conversation here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/ep125-stephen-lightbown.pdf For more from Stephen: https://www.stephenlightbown.com/ https://www.instagram....
Jul 25, 2020•1 hr 8 min
David Turner is in Walthamstow talking to Caleb Klaces and publisher Jess Chandler to talk about Caleb’s latest book, Fatherhood. This conversation was recorded before Covid-19 hit Britain so is refreshingly free from any virus chat. Fatherhood was published by Prototype Publishing in 2019 and was long listed for the Republic of Consciousness Prize and is Caleb’s debut novel. After reading Fatherhood I became a little bit obsessed with the book and its combination of fragmentary prose and sequen...
Apr 10, 2020•58 min
David Turner is in Walthamstow, east London talking to Vanessa Onwuemezi. The pair discuss how Vanessa came to be pursuing a life in writing and how she judges the quality of her writing. This episode includes a short tribute to friend and poet Mishi 'Dulwich Hamlet' Morath who sadly passed away before Christmas. Download a full transcript of this conversation here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/ep123-vanessa-onwuemezi-transcript.pdf For more about Vanessa: https://twit...
Jan 13, 2020•1 hr 5 min
David Turner is in central London talking to experimental poet and artist Steven J Fowler. The pair discuss Steven's approach to writing and editing (or lack of it), whether it helps to sometimes be ignored as a writer and his work as a curator of European and international literature events. Download a full transcript here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/ep122-steven-j-fowler.pdf Steven is organising the first Nordic Poetry Festival to be held in the UK and will take pl...
Sep 14, 2019•1 hr 10 min
David Turner is in Walthamstow, east London talking to experimental poet and artist Astra Papachristodoulou about the importance of collaboration and the visual look of words on a page in her practice. Astra is pretty determined not to be restricted by conventional definitions of what it is to be a poet and happily exists on the boundary of different media, so it was interesting to hear why she’s so keen to introduce rules and constraints into her writing. Download a full transcript of this epis...
Jun 19, 2019•48 min
David Turner is in Bristol chatting to Tom Sastry about his debut pamphlet, 'Complicity' (Smith|Doorstop) and the link between his writing and performing style. This is the final episode of this 'series'. Lunar Poetry Podcasts will return April 2019. For more from Tom: http://www.poetrybusiness.co.uk/tom-sastry https://andotherpoems.com/2018/11/16/three-poems-by-tom-sastry/ http://www.ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/a%252520man%27s%252520house%252520catches%252520fire.html Do...
Nov 29, 2018•1 hr 3 min
David Turner chats to Shagufta K. Iqbal. David met up with Shagufta back in early October 2018 at her home in Bristol, to discuss her writing and the collaborative nature of providing platforms for other writers, focusing on the role she played in founding the YoniVerse collective, a platform and support network for South Asian women writers. For more from Shagufta: http://www.shaguftakiqbal.com/ https://twitter.com/shaguftakiqbal https://www.yoniversepoetrycollective.com/ For more from us: http...
Oct 30, 2018•1 hr 9 min
To celebrate the fourth anniversary of Lunar Poetry Podcasts (01/10/2018) host and founder of the series David Turner chats to Abi Palmer about how and why LPP began. The pair discuss how the podcast has evolved since October 2014 and the changes made because of growing audiences and funding from Arts Council England. Abi and David also talk about the brand new anthology of poems by 28 former podcast guests, 'Why Poetry?' (VERVE Poetry Press), out now in bookshops nationwide. For more from us: l...
Sep 30, 2018•1 hr 17 min
I am in Manchester chatting to Andrew McMillan about his new and second full collection of poetry, Playtime (Cape Poetry). In 117 episodes, this is the first time I've met up with a poet to specifically discuss the transition from debut collection to second book. I found Andrew’s reflections on confidence in his writing, audience expectation and reaction and placing growing demands on readers just fascinating. As with his debut Physical, Playtime deals with what it is to be a man in general, wha...
Aug 30, 2018•1 hr 8 min
This episode is in two parts: Part one - David Turner is in Peterborough chatting to Ross Sutherland about his podcast 'Imaginary Advice' and how it now informs his writing. The pair discuss Ross' recent British Podcast Award in the 'Best Fiction' category, how sound engineering can help with character development and pushing literary ideas and devices to 'breaking-point'. Links relating to this section: https://www.imaginaryadvice.com/ https://twitter.com/rossgsutherland Part two (1:06:54) - Da...
Jul 26, 2018•1 hr 24 min
This episode is in two parts: Part one - David Turner is in London chatting to Jane Yeh about assuming personas and writing characters into her poetry, why fiction is such a common starting point for her poems and the influence that fine art, particularly 'old-master paintings' has on her creative practice. Some links relating to this section: https://www.janeyeh3.com/ https://twitter.com/JaneYeh3 https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?owner_id=838 https://tornn.me/ Part two (00:48:07) - Dav...
Jun 28, 2018•1 hr 6 min
In this 'special' episode David Turner is at the London office of Arts Council England talking to Gemma Seltzer about the new funding scheme 'Developing Your Creative Practice'. The pair discuss how the funding will work, who will benefit from this scheme and how it differs from previous types of funding. *PLEASE NOTE - this funding scheme is only open to artists living in England* Download the funding guidance form here: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Developin...
Jun 12, 2018•26 min
This episode is in two parts - Part one: David Turner is in London talking to bilingual poet, Leo Boix. The pair chat about translating poetry from one language to another, the different processes at play when Leo writes in either English or Spanish, why Leo doesn’t translate his own writing and the positive influences various writing collectives have had on his own writing and Invisible Presence - a developmental platform for British Latino writers. Leo reads three poems: (00:02:24) - The Somna...
May 25, 2018•1 hr 16 min
This episode is in two parts: Part one - David Turner talks to Mary Jean Chan about her debut pamphlet, 'a hurry of english' (Ignition Press), finding queer and gender-bending identities in classic English literature and how it feels to be demanding space as a published queer writer. Mary Jean also reads three poems: (00:04:00) - Rules for a Chinese Child Buying Stationery in a London Bookshop (00:28:11) - Dragon Hill Spa (1:00:30) - Tea Ceremony http://www.maryjeanchan.com/ https://www.brookes....
Apr 23, 2018•1 hr 18 min
This episode is in two parts: David Turner talks to poet and playwright Jackie Hagan talk about Jackie’s new play, ‘This Is Not A Safe Space’, which she’s just started touring. The play, presented by Unlimited and Big Feast, is based on interviews with over 80 people and in it, Jackie examines the impact of benefit cuts on disabled people and others on the margins of society. Perhaps predictably, considering the theme of this work, we discuss class - a lot. More specifically, when the idea of cl...
Mar 20, 2018•1 hr 15 min
David Turner is in south east London talking to poet Caroline Bird about her fifth collection, 'In These Days of Prohibition' (Carcanet Press, 2017). The pair discuss how Caroline chose, in this collection, to confront feelings of shame and guilt and examine why we might deny these feelings. As it frequently does, the topic of honesty in poetry rears its head. Caroline reads three poems: (00:04:37) - Eye Contact (00:33:11) - To Be Explicit (01:00:53) - Megan Married Herself http://www.carolinebi...
Feb 19, 2018•1 hr 4 min
David Turner is in Bristol chatting to documentary-maker, performance poet and director, Byron Vincent. Byron talks about the role that slam poetry played in his development as a writer and how it allowed him time on stage to shape his writing style. The pair also discuss writing as a mental health service user. Byron reads two poems: (00:40:35) - 'Wot' (00:42:50) - 'Citroën DS' https://twitter.com/Silent_Tongue https://www.facebook.com/LunarPoetryPodcasts/ http://www.byronvincent.com/ https://t...
Jan 09, 2018•47 min
David Turner is at Bristol Central Library talking to Belfast-born poet Susannah Dickey about her debut pamphlet, 'I had some very slight concerns' (The Lifeboat) and beginning her creative writing MA at Goldsmith's University. The conversation covers prose poetry, naming titles and spending too much time on mumsnet. Susannah reads three poems including two from issue #230 of Ambit Magazine: 00:03:56 - 'We are not nearly as sad as we think we ought to be' 00:21:49 - 'I have a reason for asking b...
Nov 16, 2017•46 min
To celebrate National Poetry Day 2017 here in the UK we gathered some poets together to share their work with us. This episode contains some strong language and as it's in the poems I've decided not to bleep the words. Poets and Readings are as follows: David Turner - "Milk" by Susannah Dickey (00:02:00) Rishi Dastidar - "Contour" (00:06:10) Mary-Jean Chan - "Conversation with fantasy mother" (00:07:07) "They would have all that" (00:08:02) Holly Corfield-Carr - "Z" (00:10:16) Lizzy Turner - "Pu...
Sep 27, 2017•26 min
This is a revisit of episodes 77 and 78 as i don't think I did a good enough job of editing the discussion the first time around. Host Jacob Sam-La Rose is joined by Miriam Nash and Keith Jarrett, they talk about the work they do within schools with poetry education, how they got into educational work in the first place and what they wish they’d known when they first started out. There are lots of great tips here for those already working as educational facilitators or those thinking about movin...
Sep 05, 2017•1 hr 18 min
Khairani Barokka is joined by poets Raymond Antrobus, Sandra Alland and Giles L. Turnbull for a discussion about access to publishing in the UK. Link to transcript below. The quartet discuss the variety of barriers they have faced or addressed during their careers. Taking the recently published anthology, Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back, as their starting point, they move on to cover magazine submissions, live reading, poetry competitions, and the often 'tokenistic' app...
Aug 19, 2017•1 hr 10 min
This episode is in two parts: Part 1 - David turner is in Wrexham, north Wales talking to Young People's Laureate of Wales, Sophie McKeand. The pair discuss her role as YPLoW with Literature Wales, her educational work and why politics features so heavily in her writing. Sophie reads three poems from her debut collection, Rebel Sun: 'Paper News' - (00:02:19) 'Rebel Sun' - (00:17:27) 'From The Ashes (00:30:45) Part 2 (00:31:52) - David Turner briefly chats to Tim Humphrey-Jones and Natasha Borton...
Aug 06, 2017•1 hr 11 min
David Turner is in Kennington, south London, talking to Rishi Dastidar about his latest collection, Ticker Tape (Nine Arches Press), editing for The Rialto magazine and poetry blog And Other Poems and how this editing experience has informed his own writing. A transcript of this conversation is available to download here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/interview-rishi-dastidar-lpp-transcript-ep-103.pdf www.lunarpoetrypodcasts.com https://twitter.com/betarish?lang=en-gb h...
Jul 16, 2017•43 min
