Lunar Poetry Podcasts

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 also chat about being a flaneuse, and writing while walking around mystical East London.

We hear two readings from Salena -

Pessimism Is For Lightweights - -0:35:19 (ISH)

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 gave her a space to speak more openly about mental health. We also discuss the importance of creative collaboration, share some performance stories, and the difficulties of navigating the trappings of social media. 

“You’re never gonna achieve greatness in your comfort zone.” - 10:20-11:26

Sarah reads two poems - 

23:35 - Beginning

33:21 - It's Not That Deep

Download a full transcript here: (COMING SOON)

For more from Sarah: http://www.sarahcallaghan.com/ 

https://linktr.ee/sarahcallaghan

https://twitter.com/sarahecallaghan 

http://instagram.com/scallaghan1

For more from PJ: linktr.ee/repeatbeatpoet

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 and taught in our libraries, archives, and museums. Across an hour that felt like a minute, Suhaiymah also squeezes in some self-care tips, and gives another beautiful answer to the perennial ultimate question - why poetry?

Suhaiymah reads three poems - 

06:19 - Where Is My History?

35:03 - A Virtue Of Disobedience 

42:17 - Bacon, Bank Notes, Benjamins

Download a full transcript here: (COMING SOON)

“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-to-do (read the guidelines) and what-not-to-do (make transphobic jokes) when submitting. Bridget tells PJ about life as a poet in the DIY punk scene, touring in vans and playing house shows (ps - punks love Carly Rae Jepsen), and the value of emotional caretaking in the midst of the intensity of judging UniSlam - the UK's national university poetry slam & summit. Bridget also speaks about rediscovering a sense of freedom and joy in writing while working on their latest collection celebrating the campness, queerness, and playfulness we all know was the real star of the iconic teen classic Grease. (We don't speak about Grease 2 - who would?).

Bridget reads one poem -

41:12 - 1000 Bits Of Gum

Download a full transcript here: (COMING SOON)

Bridget's Links -