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 r ..read more

Cece's Speakeasy (30th June-3rd July 2021) - https://applesandsnakes.org/project/ceces-speakeasy/ This week The Repeat Beat Poet speaks to writer, performer, creative director, and tarot-reading multi-faceted artist and activist Zena Edwards. The pair talk about navigating corporate spaces while maintaining integrity, the importance of orality and sound within self-expression, and how indigenous African peoples and systems of knowledge have guided Zena's work. The two poets also give some shine to Apples & Snakes, the UK's longstanding leading poetry organisation, discuss their involvement ..read more

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 creativ ..read more

“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. Bridg ..read more

This week Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to Hip Hop artist and former Sheffield Poet Laureate, Otis Mensah. They discuss how the concept of introspective documentarianism underpins Otis' work of building a personal identity and creative voice around artistic truth and vulnerability, through rap and poetry. There's also talk of surviving and decrying racial capitalism, and a breakdown of Otis' tenure as laureate.   Otis reads three poems -  17:12 - Contrary To The Intangible Grapevine 35:25 - The Thinks 1:00:00 - No Record Store Day Download a full transcrip ..read more

In his first full interview as host of the series, Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to poet, producer, and academic Katie Ailes. They speak about Katie's recent PhD study on performance and authenticity in UK Spoken Word poetry, the critical discourse around poetry, and firmly refute the idea that the talented craftspeople emerging from the spoken word scene are 'Noble Amateurs'.  Katie reads three poems -   Outwith - 07:37 Soft Animal - 27:18 Spangled - 1:03:33 Download a full transcript here: (COMING SOON)  For more from Katie: www.katieailes.com  ..read more

In his final episode as host of the series, David Turner talks to Stephen Lightbown about his debut poetry collection Only Air (Burning Eye Books), writing as a wheelchair user and his experience of attending online events during the UK Covid-19 lockdown. Stephen reads three poems. Download a full transcript of this conversation here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/ep125-stephen-lightbown.pdf For more from Stephen: https://www.stephenlightbown.com/ https://www.instagram.com/spokeandpencil/ https://twitter.com/spokeandpencil https://www.facebook.com/spokeandpencil/ For ..read more

David Turner is in Walthamstow talking to Caleb Klaces and publisher Jess Chandler to talk about Caleb’s latest book, Fatherhood. This conversation was recorded before Covid-19 hit Britain so is refreshingly free from any virus chat. Fatherhood was published by Prototype Publishing in 2019 and was long listed for the Republic of Consciousness Prize and is Caleb’s debut novel. After reading Fatherhood I became a little bit obsessed with the book and its combination of fragmentary prose and sequences of verse. Download a full transcript here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2020 ..read more

David Turner is in Walthamstow, east London talking to Vanessa Onwuemezi. The pair discuss how Vanessa came to be pursuing a life in writing and how she judges the quality of her writing. This episode includes a short tribute to friend and poet Mishi 'Dulwich Hamlet' Morath who sadly passed away before Christmas. Download a full transcript of this conversation here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/ep123-vanessa-onwuemezi-transcript.pdf For more about Vanessa: https://twitter.com/onwuemezi http://www.thewhitereview.org/fiction/at-the-heart-of-things/ http://mironline.org ..read more

David Turner is in central London talking to experimental poet and artist Steven J Fowler. The pair discuss Steven's approach to writing and editing (or lack of it), whether it helps to sometimes be ignored as a writer and his work as a curator of European and international literature events. Download a full transcript here: https://lunarpoetrypodcasts.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/ep122-steven-j-fowler.pdf Steven is organising the first Nordic Poetry Festival to be held in the UK and will take place 11-17 October 2019 at various venues. For more information go here: https://www.europeanpoetryfe ..read more