Central hosts 'Taking the Mic: Black British Spoken Word Poetry Since 1965 - Aesthetics, Activisms, Auralities' | The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

A red paper event programme with the words 'Taking the Mic' is held by an attendee.

Central was delighted in the autumn term to host Poetry Off the Page’s one-day conference Taking the Mic: Black British Spoken Word Poetry Since 1965 – Aesthetics, Activisms, Auralities.

Taking the Mic emerged out of the five-year “Poetry Off the Page” project directed by Dr. Julia Lajta-Novak at the University of Vienna and supported by an ERC Consolidator Grant and the START-Prize of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

The project investigates the significance of poetry performance to recent British literary history and conducts in-depth studies on the intersections of spoken word with literary and performance traditions, on British Black and South Asian spoken word poetry, the British poetry slam, Irish spoken word, and the spoken word play.

Collaborators on the project include Apples and Snakes –Spoken Word Archive, Dr Deirdre Osborne of Goldsmiths, University of London, the Centre for Poetry at Queen Mary University of London and University College Dublin.

Central was thrilled to partner with the team by hosting Taking the Mic and through Principal Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE co-convening the conference together with Dr Deirdre Osborne Hon FRSL FRSA (Goldsmiths, University of London), Dr Emily Kate Timms (University of Vienna), and Shannon Navarro (Conference Assistant and PhD candidate at Central). The day concluded with an evening of Black British spoken word poetry curated by Renaissance One and Apples and Snakes.

Speaking of the Conference, Co-convener Dr Deirdre Osborne said:

“Central was able to offer a truly loving home to the conference when it had to be relocated from Goldsmiths and I am indebted to the incomparable Josette Bushell-Mingo, a friend of over thirty years, who was instantly attuned to its significance in celebrating Black culture. As someone who has long championed the work of many of the poets, scholars, booksellers and performers who contributed on the day, it was gratifying to see the mix of generations who attended, pioneers and newcomers alike. The meeting space enabled the recognition of the inheritances of poetic lineages as arm-in-arm with fresh creativities. This event was not unique. Many gatherings of Black British artists and academics over fifty-plus years must be remembered as paving the way for ‘Taking the Mic’. But its legacy testifies to the continuation of a radical future for poetry across all borders of site, sound, sight and performance. I salute and thank everyone who worked with such dedication to make ‘Taking the Mic’ flourish.”

Co-convener Dr Emily Kate Timms said:

“Taking the Mic truly was a celebration of a long and rich history of Black poetry in performance in the UK. The atmosphere was electric as poets, creative practitioners, critics, students, editors, archivists, educators, and academics delivered compelling talks; engaged in lively question and answer sessions; participated over Zoom; or mingled over BookLove’s conference bookstall.

Keynote lectures and panel presentations spanned the breadth of UK Black spoken word, and discussed multifaceted performance practices; reclaiming underacknowledged poetry communities and archives; the challenges and opportunities facing Black poets performing their work in Britain’s literary and educational landscapes and more. Poets and practitioners were at the heart of the conference, and it was fantastic to see a wealth of creative presentations and performances throughout the day, before concluding with a powerful spoken word showcase co-curated by Renaissance One and Apples and Snakes. Above all, every participant testified to the creativity and vitality of Black poets and their central roles in making British poetry as we know it today.

We want to thank RCSSD and Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE for their generous hospitality and facilitation, our conference assistant Shannon Navarro for her indefatigable work, the keynote speakers Jay Bernard FRSL and Kayo Chingonyi FRSL, presenters, showcase performers, panel chairs, student ushers, and all participants as well as Poetry off the Page, Goldsmiths, Renaissance One, and Apples and Snakes for making Taking the Mic possible.”

We are very much looking forward to working on a Special Issue arising out of the conference, and many speakers have agreed to stay in touch with each other. So we are very excited to see where this community is headed next!

Find out more about Taking the Mic by visiting the conference website.

Find out more about Poetry Off The Page by visiting the project website.

Taking the Mic conference brochures are stacked in a pile atop a trestle table

Josette Bushell-Mingo wears a high neck black shirt and stands in front of microphone with notes on a music stand, addressing an audience — Central Principal and conference co-convener Josette Bushell-Mingo addressing attendees at Taking the Mic

Dr Julia Lajta-Novak wears jeans, a black top and white blazer, stands in front of a microphone addressing an audience — Dr Julia Lajta-Novak of Poetry Off the Page addressing attendees at Taking the Mic

Conference co-convener Dr Deirdre Osborne wears a black top and grey skirt and stands in front of a tall table with a laptop during a presentation at the Taking the Mic conference — Conference co-convener Dr Deirdre Osborn FRSA addressing attendees at Taking the Mic

Keynote speaker Kayo Chingonyi FRSL wears a dark blue jumper and white collared shirt, stands at a music stand in front of a microphone addressing attendees — Keynote speaker Kayo Chingonyi FRSL addressing attendees at the Taking the Mic conference

Conference co-convener Dr Emily Kate Timms wears all black and sits in the audience of the Taking the Mic conference holding notes and a microphone and addressing the panel — Conference co-convener Dr Emily Kate Timms addressing attendees at Taking the Mic

Presenter and poet Carol Leeming MBE FRSA wears red glasses and a leopard print jumper, stands at a music stand in front of a microphone addressing attendees — Presenter and poet Carol Leeming MBE FRSA addressing attendees at the Taking the Mic conference

Conference assistant and Central PhD candidate Shannon Navarro wears a yellow jumper and stands at a microphone addressing attendees at the Taking the Mic conference — Conference assistant and Central PhD candidate Shannon Navarro addressing attendees at the Taking the Mic conference

Literature is displayed on a stand atop a trestle table in Central's atrium

TAKING THE MIC: BLACK BRITISH SPOKEN WORD POETRY SINCE 1965

AESTHETICS, ACTIVISMS, AURALITIES

Keynote Speakers

Jay Bernard FRSL, Went to Coventry (and all I got were some poems about Britain and Zebras)

Kayo Chingonyi FRSL, “It has to be music”: Generative Continuities - Black British Poetry and Black British Music

Panel Chairs

Hannah Silva

Rachel Bolle-Debessay

Shefali Banerji

Jill Abram

Deirdre Osborne, Hon. FRSL

Panelists

Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa, Navigating the Enslaved Black Female Voice Through Dance

Aphrodita Nicolova and Sasha DeSouza-Willock, Choreopoetic Experiments in Black British Poets: Voicing Intersectional Trauma

Shefali Banerji, “Your Daughter’s Face Is a Small Riot”: The Performance of Identity in Warsan Shire

Panya Banjoko, Nottingham Black Archive Recovering the Voices of Black Women Performance Poets through the Chronicle of Minority Arts (CHROMA) in Nottingham

Laurence Byrne and Nicole-Rachelle Moore, Black British Spoken Word Poetry in the Archive

Wolfgang Görtschacher, Black British Spoken Word Poetry and the Poetry Industry

Degna Stone, On the Page, Off the Page or Somewhere in Between?

Rachel Bolle-Debessay, “dubbing in the rootsical, yard, basic rhythm that I-an-I know”: The Case of Dub Poetry

Hannah Silva, David J’s Vocal Pugilism

Ronnie McGrath, Acoustic avant-gardism, a twenty-minute performance on how to talk back Black poetry

Abíọ́dún ‘Abbey’ Abdul, Isolated Words: Black Kidult Poetry Journey

Raquel McKee, Opportunities and Challenges of Off-Page Edutainment in N.I.’s Literary World

Carol Leeming MBE FRSA, Black Spoken Word Poets of the East Midlands

Melanie Abrahams Hon. FRSL FRSA, This, That and the Other

Pavlína Flajšarová, Political Engagement in Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry

Anna Osarose Harrison, The Passage of Revival: Beryl Gilroy’s Poetry in Prose

Jessica Varela, Poetry as Archive: A Black Feminist Reading of Una Marson’s Diasporic Poems

The conference concluded with an evening of Black British Spoken Word Poetry

Hosted by Melanie Abrahams Hon. FRSL FRSA and The Repeat Beat Poet

Featuring Chrissie Okorie, Michael Brome, Marcus Joseph, Jay Bernard FRSL, Rheima Robinson and Makella Ama

Central hosts 'Taking the Mic: Black British Spoken Word Poetry Since 1965 - Aesthetics, Activisms, Auralities'