21 Poets for Sheffield, Word Life, until Nov 3rd 2012, reviewed by Katie Beswick …
Even if you’re a cutting edge urban cultural type, you’ll be unlikely to have heard of digital poetry slams. That’s because, until a couple of weeks ago (or so I’m reliably informed, you’ll know better if you really are a cutting edge urban cultural type), there was no such thing. In fact, when I got the email asking me to write about 21 Poets for Sheffield for Culture Vulture, I couldn’t even imagine what a ‘digital poetry slam’ might look like.
Turns out, it looks like an interactive map, accessed via the internet (just click here) with poets delivering rhymes to camera at different ‘places’ on the map; which means that you get to undertake a virtual tour of Sheffield and listen to poetry at the same time. You click on a location and a recording of the rhyme plays; once you’ve heard them all, you vote for your favourite. As is customary in such competitions, the poet with the most votes wins. I think this was what those experts on Tomorrow’s World meant, back in the 90s, when they said that 21st Century technology would change my life.
You may remember that a few weeks back I wrote on these very pages various words of praise for Word Life, the monthly spoken word event that takes place at Bradford’s Theatre in the Mill. Word Life is also the organisation that fronts 21 Poets for Sheffield, part of the ‘Off the Shelf Festival’. You have to admire their passion for the rhyming (and sometimes not rhyming, poetry’s got no rules you know) word.
Now, I’m not saying I didn’t mean those words I wrote in that last review; they were totally sincere. But even if you love poetry, I’m well aware that there may be myriad reasons why you don’t fancy attending Word Life. I mean, getting up off of one’s sofa, finding clothes that are suitable for a social occasion which trendy people might attend, needing a wee half way through a set and having to choose between sitting uncomfortably and walking out of the auditorium in front of everyone. These are faffs that will inevitably need to be navigated should you decide to leave the comfort of your home to be entertained in public.
Luckily then, you can access 21 Poets (that’s my shorthand, not theirs) from the comfort of your home PC, or your desk at work, until November 3rd, when the experiment ends. And there really are some treats to be had; Kate Garrett getting all philosophical about God at the Botanical Gardens, Geri Carver looking like some kind of urban angel on the streets in the sky at Park Hill, Stan Skinny being amusing about acne at the Sheffield University Auditorium. It’s worth a listen, I promise; even if you’re only taking part to prove that you’re totes down with the kids. And if you listen and love what you hear (or if you dislike what you hear, and can express that without being pompous), you might like to offer a mini review in the comments section, below. This is an interactive forum you know?