Nottingham Poetry Festival

There is a strong appetite for poetry in the city as demonstrated by our thriving spoken word scene. No surprise then that this year’s Nottingham Poetry Festival was the biggest and most successful to date. NottsLit especially enjoyed the Waterstone’s event with Patience Agbabi, Chris McLoughlin and Ben Norris.  

The afternoon was hosted by Michelle Mother Hubbard, a poet from last year’s festival, and she introduced the performers with warmth. First up was a nervous Chris McLoughlin who has the gift of a deep, loud voice and he used it to lead us in a breathing exercise (something he always opens with). His poems were personal, with a psychological focus. I really liked his use of The Cure, which you can hear in the video below.

McLoughlin loves Nottingham “more than anywhere I’ve ever been” and we love him back. Big White Shed have published his poetry and he already has bags of experience here as a workshop facilitator. He has a Distinction in MA Creative Writing from the University of Nottingham and has been Artistic Director of Mouthy Poets. A likable lad and a poet of real potential.

Unlike McLoughlin, Ben Norris is from Nottingham but is now living in Tottenham. He’s a two-time national poetry slam champion and has successfully toured his solo show, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Family'. His poetry focused on relationships, be it his father, step mum or ex-partner who, “like a young koala consumes their mother’s shit.” He is currently poet-in-residence for Nottinghamshire Libraries, a Creative Associate at Nottingham Playhouse, and also plays Ben Archer in ‘The Archers’ on BBC Radio. If you’ve not already seen it, have a look at his Nottingham poem, ‘Rebel Heart’. 

Patience Agbabi headlined the event and delivered a tour de force. Never before have I heard such a variety of styles, voices and forms from the one poet. With decades of poetry to call upon she kept the audience under her spell throughout. Issues of racial and gender identity featured prominently but there was no way of knowing which direction the next poem would take us. From Chaucer to Josephine Baker to R&B Agbabi covered much ground. In the video below you can hear two of the poems she performed in the set. Agbabi also informed us that she’s taking a break from poetry to write children’s fiction, with a three-book deal in the offing. Look our for that.