BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Power Lines

Culture

Series about the world of spoken word poetry and how it is gaining popularity in the UK.

Poets and performers explore the escalating popularity of spoken word poetry and see how it has become the breeding ground for a whole new generation of writers.

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - Power Lines, Series 2, Culture

Poet and performer Yomi Ṣode looks at the dynamic cultures surrounding contemporary poetry

Poet and performer Yomi Ṣode looks at the dynamic cultures that surround contemporary poetry. He discovers that finding a voice can be both thrilling and painful.

As poetry events, audiences and online views of performances multiply, poet and performer Yomi Ṣode looks at the cultures around poetry. Talking to poets where they make their work he finds that community inspires and supports new and established writers but that finding a voice can be both thrilling and painful.

Yomi hears from Kareem Parkins-Brown about winning the Roundhouse 2019 poetry slam, but still feeling like an imposter and trying to integrate his world with the poetry world.  Bridget Minamore speaks about the costs of code-switching: shifting from one linguistic and cultural register to another. Sola Browne talks about the influence of mentors and performs at BoxedIN an open mic event run by Yomi where the crowd is loud and first timers and circuit stars feed off the audience energy. Malika Booker and Nick Makoha talk about craft, the global and historical community of poets and hard work.


The poets featured in this episode are:

Sola Browne
Kareen Parkins-Brown
Malika Booker
Nick Makoha
Bridget Minamore
Yomi Sode

Producer: Natalie Steed
Executive Producer: Sally Spurring
A Wire Free production for BBC Radio 4.

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