Human Writes 3 - THIS SATURDAY !!

Come and catch me performing alongside a whole host of poetry and hiphop talent this Saturday at Human Writes 3. Restless Beings are a charity working to raise awareness of human rights issues. They put on a sick party!! One not to be missed!

peaCe

"This Month" - Manorlogz BHM Special 2012

My installment for Manorlogz BHM Special, 'This Month' is one of my oldest poems but still seems relevant. Shout out to Gee; the folks at Vox Africa, Battersea Studios and all the poets who represented for this. Certainly wasn't the usual 'Windrush-waving' celebrations of struggle and oppression that has often constituted BHM's past. 

By engaging with this project I have had numerous conversations about the appropriateness and relevance of BHM. Where it easy to write the whole thing off as segregation and tokenism, it seems that there are new conversations arising amongst a broad range of artists, social commentators and anyone else who gives a stuff about the changing nature of BHM and especially around how it is changing and adapting, as the context in which black politics is enacted changes and crosses over with other non-black (but still marginalised) groups experiences of inequality and resistance. 

Perhaps BHM will come to be known as MHM (Minority History Month) or OHM (Oppressed History Month) and just very maybe, one day, the history of all people will be taught with parity and we can do away with the whole thing.

Next Gig: Friday 2nd November, Intimates at the Poetry Cafe, London. Hosted by Kat Francois.

To Sea

Refugee Week 18-24 June 2012

To celebrate the innumerable stories of political and economic migration that have shaped our cities and societies, 'To Sea' reworks Edward Lear's 'The Jumblies' for a 21st century audience. Echoing the bravery and persistence of Lear's green and blue creatures, this poem serves to highlight the superhuman struggles undertaken daily in the name of freedom and opportunity.


Poetcurious says:

I know the original from my childhood and read it regularly to my young daughters. Reading it as an adult I was struck by the parallels between the fantastic story of the poem and the realities of many of my own friends journey's to this country. Once I had written the poem, I recited it for some of my friends whose stories had inspired it. They told me they were moved by the honesty of the piece and that it resonated with their own experiences. This was obviously a very rewarding response. 

After that I contacted human rights charity 'Restless Beings' to discuss turning the poem into a film. I was introduced to video-journalist and documentary maker, Ceren Yilmaz. I presented my ideas for visuals and Ceren edited my still images into the animated montage that you see projected onto my face in the film.
Ceren shot the performance in a single first take before editing it and delivering it to my inbox before midnight!

My greatest thanks and admiration go to Ceren, Mabrur and the whole Restless team for their support and dedication to this project. I am very proud to be associated with this crew!

If you would like to know more about the Restless Beings; find out more information about ways to support Refugee Week; get a film made or if you just want to see more curious poetry, check out the links below...peaCe

www.refugeeweek.org.uk
www.restlessbeings.org
www.cerenyilmaz.com
www.artofcurious.blogspot.com

Twitter:

@poetcurious
@_cerenyilmaz
@restlessmabrur
@refugeeweek

Come get some curious...

Upcoming Gigs:


Friday 8th June @ SOAS. 8pm onwards. Free.
Supporting '3rd Floor' - retro-fresh hiphop soul and funk. Spokenword and beatbox set.


Tuesday 12th June @ The Recreation Ground, Camberwell Green. 7-midnight. £5
Christopher Logue tribute night hosted by Angry Sam Featuring: Kate Tempest and John Hegley.


Friday 22nd June @ D'Gaf, Stratford. 7-midnight. Details tbc
Charity event in aid of Syria.


Saturday 30th June @ Kingsbury High School. 2-6pm. Free
Summer Festival literary tent + open mic


Sunday 1st July @ The Yard Theatre, Queens Yard, hackney Wick. E9 5EN. Midday-11pm. £7
Lyrix Organix: Relay with Restless Beings. Hiphop and poetry night. Gonna be BIG!


Sunday 15th July @ Theatre Royal bar, Stratford
Intimates hosted by Kat Francois. Details tbc


...That's all for now!!


 Look out for videos with human rights charity Restless Beings as well as a chance to see me spit in 3D in the soon to be released Peckham BMX club documentary by JetSet films


Much love for everybody supporting; enjoy the new video clips for Good Enough and My Beauty Remains and I hope to see you at a gig soon! peaCe

Wordamouth 2011 - Welcome back!

Wordamouth kicks back off for 2011 at the first of two exciting new venues. FreeStyles at Favela Chic retains the high standard of performance and revelry that it brought to the Live Room. Hosted by myself and Angry Sam, FreeStyles showcases the best in Spoken Word poetry for a creative and conscious audience. Favela Chic is one of the hottest venues in the capital and Wordamouth are taking full advantage of its support for poetry.

The first event at Favela is on 8th February (flyer above) and features HKB FiNN, Cole Salewicz (The Savage Nomads) and Anna Le (Sage and Time). The event is partly sponsored by ethical clothing company Statemeant who are supplying me with clothing in return for props! Check 'em out and buy a T-shirt!

There is no open mic at this event, but fear not - Wordamouth sparks up at another new venue at the end of March that will offer a larger, brighter spotlight to the poetry scenes emergent laureates. Alaska Studios is the venue and Waterloo the area. A 2min walk from 'the Imax', Alaska offers a warm welcome to a plethora of creative talent. Wordamouth is proud to be part of the roster. More news on that later...

Dates:

8/2/2011 - Wordamouth presents FreeStyles @ Favela Chic, 8-1am, Free Entry.

poets: HKB FiNN, Cole Salewicz, Anna le

DJs: curious, Billy, Anarkali Elektra

8/3/2011 - Wordamouth presents FreeStyles @ Favela Chic, 8-1am, Free Entry.

Poets: Johnny 'Fluffypunk' Seagrove + support

Djs: curious + guests

26/3/2011 - Wordamouth @ Alaska, 8-Midnight, £5/4 - OPEN MIC

Poets: tbc

Djs: curious + guests

12/4/2011 - Wordamouth presents FreeStyles @ Favela Chic, 8-1am, Free Entry.

Poets: Sessions and the Bear (Polar Bear, Session Noisses)

Djs: curious, Session Noisses + guests

Human Writes Open Mic Champ!!

Went down to this event and rocked the open mic. Brought home the crown for North Weezy! Going to be doing more work with the Restless Beings, no doubt. It was nice to be rocking a hiphop crowd too. Big!!