e-poets Plain Text: Poetry across frontiers (07)

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Poetry across frontiers (07)

response from London, England

Kojo,

Goodness I have something to say Kurt! It is great to hear from you and South Africa but I would caution, from my own experience, against your negativity towards local poetry people and structures and especially the worship of all that is American. Having toured that country, disjointed and uneven would pretty much how I'd sum up what they have there, but with some centres of extreme excellence to seek inspiration from, including Chicago.

Though it is hard for all of us outside of the States, we have to engage in relations with that country's artists, artisans and organisers as equals, not subject peoples. I see the point of being part of the e-poets community is to celebrate and encourage diversity, with relationships built on mutual respect. I have known and worked with wonderful South African poets living here in the UK and I want to know the news and know the work that is being produced there now! I hope your website is packed with it!

When I first took on board the idea of slam poetry and made contact with the US for the first time in the early 1990's it was not on an equal basis and the result really was quite a lot of disrespect from some the slam hierarchy there. You can not expect the citizens of what is effectively the World's main Imperialist power, however conscious, where ever they are in terms of wealth and social position in their society, not to be affected by the naked power in terms of cultural output their country wields. The internet is no exception.

The accusation of Cultural Imperialism was one I levelled at some point in an exchange with Kurt! I was really fed up because someone from e-poets had pointed out that I didn't put UK after London in some publicity I put out on the web, it was glibly pointed out that I was putting out world wide, now when did events in New York or Chicago ever have USA added afterwards? How can one of, the if not the greatest cities on the face of the planet be confused with some American backwater?! As global citizens we really have to be proud of where we come from and the people we've come up with.

I can't remember the Marx quote but the point is TO CHANGE THE WORLD, to adapt and make changes for the positive in the South African, by all means appropriate American cultural forms whether it be hip hop or slam poetry, but only on those equal terms.

After dealing with some impossibly arrogant US poetry visitors in the mid-nineties, who admittedly were far more accomplished than the local people I was involved with at the time, I worked to set up performance structures in London to help develop talent in this city, looking at the very best aspects of American organisation from my tour work there and how the best of the American artists worked and conducted themselves. All the time, I made adaptations for the society that I live and operate in and drew on the incredible diversity and richness of London and European culture.

The most obvious manifestation of this adaptation process is how the slam is run at the Farrago Club, not for us the naked competition of the US and the anal retentiveness of Taylor Mali stats! In our slams everyone wins a prize, and to stop the decline towards testosterone-driven ranting and the shouty moralising monologues of many US slam performers, we genuinely welcome people from every poetry tradition and style to take part and to read, present more than one super charged piece of work if they want.

Also our audiences simply won't accept the dreadful third rate drama school phenomenon of the the `group piece' and overall have the irony and wit not to take poetry competitions of any kind too seriously.

The real lesson, I think, is not to dismiss your own poetry and literature scene but to recognise and help nurture your own poets. I am very proud to be part of a London poetry scene which is bursting with energy and talent and to to working with a particularly amazing group of young London poets who are great writers and performers.

As an example, importing a US poetry format like slam in itself will not in itself be a fix to any inadequacies you may see in South Africa. Importing in US poets in itself likewise can do more damage to a local poetry scene than good.

In London it is with great pride that Farrago invites in and gives a platform to visiting US and International artists, who perform alongside local talented poets in what I believe really are some really outstanding events.

Through our local work I hope we can start to make a real global contribution to spoken word. And it absolutely goes without saying thaat if you ever get to London, the only one worth mentioning, I'd love to meet you and hear your work!

Best wishes
- John Paul O'Neill

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