I take a quirky look at life and try to give tender answers in the form of poetry, songs and live art. I believe, like Dryden, that the chief aim of poetry is to delight, and I aim to do this by interacting and engaging with my audience through exciting and surprising performances and installations. The essence of these events is always pure and simple poetry – but I like to sprinkle a bit of theatricality on the top to make it more colourful!
I perform internationally with my shows and with my Poetree (I invite people to pick an object off the branches of the tree and listen to the song or poem it inspires). I am currently collaborating with various artists, filmmakers and musicians to create two new performances, Word Mart and Pimp My Poetry for 2010. I write children’s books and am Director of the LiterARTure Departure, a new consultancy agency providing live art and live literature packages to education authorities, communities and festivals.
For me, poetry asks life’s big questions and finds a way to answer them. Most people, underneath it all, are poetic at heart and want to answer such questions. Poetry, if presented in the right way, can do this for them. It cannot be commercialized and therefore always remains true. As Rumi, my poetic hero says - “Penniless, one has a thousand dreams.” Poets may always be poor, but at least they’re full of dreams.
Last year I celebrated NPD with Poems in a Tin in the Co-Op – food for the soul. This year, inspired by superheroes, I have put out a call to SuperPoet in the hope that he will swoop down and perform with me on October 8th. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Superpoet! His identity is a closely guarded secret but together we hope to save the world by our acts of random poetic kindness. To find out more visit www.thepoetree.net.
