Monday 25 March 2013

Squeezing ESS in!

Hello hello hello, it's been a good while. I've been pretty busy lately, so I thought I'd do a mega quick update so that ESS didn't start feeling all lonesome and neglected. I'll be back to proper blogging sooooon, right after I've finished codifying morphemes (ugh).



~I'm still in York, but not necessarily by choice. I've been hitting the library daily, and was really looking forward to heading back to Huddersfield for a few days of playing with the dog and having unlimited hot showers, but seeing as everyone in Upperthong (yes- genuine name of the village I live in) is well and truly snowed in, I've ended up back in the library for a few more days. Good because I'm getting more work done, bad because I have to contend with these guys...

~ I interviewed my spoken-poet hero Mark Grist- I've posted it in full here- and to see his show Rogue Teacher thanks to my beloved Yorker! It was pretty cool being able to casually phone up one of my favourite poets for a chat about his opinions on the EBacc and Scroobius Pip and his favourite poets. I got a bit carried away and ended up having a bit of a fangirl moment, but he seemed used to it so it's all okay.


~ In other Yorker news, I reviewed the pretty bizarre "Self Service"- read it here- as part of the TakeOver Festival. It's the first time I've ever been to the theatre by myself, and I secretly enjoyed it. I assumed I'd feel ridiculous sat on my own, but it was quite nice to be able to fully focus on the show and pretend I was a proper luvvie, rather than a student out for free tickets.

~I'm currently helping out the lovely little social enterprise GoodPeople.co.uk- snazzy website full of jobs, internships and volunteering opps. If anyone wants me to put them up as a volunteer, then just holla!

~ To celebrate my boyfriend getting a fancy new job, and me getting a fancy new coat, we went to Meltons Too for a cosy little meal. Such a nice wee restaurant, great atmosphere and good food. I keep meaning to do a "Top Five Restaurants in York"- and I've got a feeling Meltons Too will feature. We also went to Lucias for some cheap cocktails- I'll definitely be taking Emma and Joanne there, what's not to love about half priced cocktails and Usher on repeat?

~ When I'm not interviewing poetry heroes or swanning off to the theatre, I'm doing the usual. Reading fashion blogs, watching Coronation Street, and researching the structure of Polish sound systems (hello, lingusitics degree...). So all fun and games as usual! I'll do a real blog soon!


(And just for luck/because it will piss him off, here's a picture of Jonathan being his usual sexy self)


Thursday 21 March 2013

This isn't a poem

This isn't a poem, it just looks like it.
It's simply dressing up as 'English Lit',
It's trying to lull you to a sense of security,
out of trust or intelligence or curiosity.

You're sucked in, thanks to stanzas (and perhaps a rhyme),
Now it'll pose as some greater question, or the meaning of life.
It'll trick you into thinking that this cluster of words
Isn't just letters on a screen,
But eloquent verse.

You're scrabbling around for emotional meaning,
Just ignore the panic you're no doubt feeling,
There's got to be significance somewhere on the screen, and
Stop, you've sussed it, now you can breathe again.

This isn't a poem, it's just pretending to be. These are just tarted up words on a computer screen.

Today is World Poetry Day! Enjoy (and please don't laugh).

Monday 18 March 2013

Interview: Mark Grist

Mark Grist is one of my favourite poets, so when the chance to interview him came up, once I'd stopped leaping around with excitement, I picked up the phone and gave him a ring. He's performing at the TakeOver Festival in York on Friday 22nd, get yourself tickets because it's going to be a great show. Thanks to The Yorker + Katharine Wootton for arranging the interview
_________________________________________________________________________

Mark Grist is the teacher-poet-rap battler who shot to Reddit-induced fame last year when he out-lyriced cocky youngster Bradley "Blizzard" Green. In his spare time, as well as leading projects in schools, teaching, being half of the double act Dead Poets, spitting lyrics, making TV and radio appearances, Mark manges to find time for a spot of touring. He'll be at the TakeOver Festival in York next week, so Farrah Kelly rang him up for a chat.

His show, "Rogue Teacher" will be part of the annual theatre festival spread over three weeks in March, June and October in York. Performing on Friday 22nd March, "it's the story- the tragic tale- of a secondary school teacher who quits to become a rap-battler. Then he shoots to fame after going viral on the internet, and we find out about all the chaos and fun that comes with that"

Sound familiar? Grist's rap battle with rising rap star Blizzard has rocketed to well over 3 million views- not bad for one of the scenes most unlikely stars. "It's quite a distinct art form, separate from page poetry. With page poets, they seem distant, like they're hiding away. Rap battling is high-stress, you get a great nervous energy.

"I enjoy the restricting elements rap battling enforces on you, creativity comes from being restricted."






Amongst these restrictions, Grist is a big fan of making things that little bit harder for himself. He's written poems and spat bars only using one vowel, and has also vowed not to use sexist or homophobic language in his battles.

"It's surprisingly difficult, it's so widespread in battling that you have to analyse everything. Everyone else asks me '"why are you worried?", but on my journey as a teacher, I punished people for using the same language. I can't then use it myself, because I don't want to be a hypocrite."

Since the video, things have cooled down considerably for Grist; "it's all less intense now. I've got a more regular working week." Is he still recognised? "Yeah, I find it funny, I'll be chatting to someone and tell them I do rap battles. They'll then tell me about this YouTube video they saw with a teacher and a student...Then they go 'that was you, wasn't it?'".

Teaching clearly still has it's hold. He runs workshops in schools with the other half of the Dead Poets duo, Mixy, showing pupils how to tap into their poetic creativity through rap.

"I'm worried about the direction education is going in. It's looking bleak, they're stifling these kid's creativity". Grist is unimpressed with Gove's changes, commenting that the EBacc makes it easier for middle class suburban youngsters, but much harder for others.

"I do miss teaching, I might go back in a few years. It's really amazing that I've got to do these things, it's nice to mix it up a bit."

Grist's softer side resides in his more "standard" poetry. Away from the buzz and aggression of battles, some of his best work is starting to gain appreciation. His "feminist anthem", Girls Who Read also shared a little of the internet fame, making the front page of Reddit.

"There's lots of reasons a rap battle will become big, but that was just a poem being recorded on a mobile phone." Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come. Grist's poetry deserves real recognition- this isn't just your average "down-with-the-kids" teacher.

Grist seems to agree: "I'll do rap battling for another year, but I'd like to produce another piece of work to be remembered by. I won't always be 'that guy from the YouTube video'". Though to be fair, the battle isn't a bad piece of work to be remembered by.




Originally published: TheYorker March 17th 2013. Read my orignial blog post on the viral video here: Rapping Lyrical

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Library Assholes

It's Year Three, Term Two, Week Ten. Or, as I like to think of it: "Oh God Oh God Oh God." Or as my lecturers like to call it: "Let's give you ALL the assignments". Long story short, I spend a lot of time in the library these days.

Once upon a fresherdom, the library was that building full of books I didn't read. I kept it at arms length, well aware that the second and third years with real work to do could spot a fresher hogging a desk from a mile off. Fast forward to second year, where the good people at AP Housing thought we'd be able to write all of our essays on a desk the size of an ironing board, and the library quickly became my second home. This is when I met the Library Assholes.

Library Asshole [lai-brar-ee | ass-hoal] n. sg: A person whose presence and or activities in a library setting are irritating to other library goers. Diet: Key Texts and Facebook. Most active during exam season.

By not conforming to Library Etiquette, these people cement themselves as the worst people ever. There's the obvious Library Assholes, the ones who confuse 'Quiet Zones' for a bloody canteen. Oh, you got your pizza delivered to the Silent Zone? Aren't you just the quirkiest. You'd better Instagram that shit immediately.

As well as the obvious Library Assholes, a species so unforgivable we can only really pity them, there's the subtle ones. The ones that are accidental. The empty desk being scowled at- when the piles of notes on top of it are in use, but the fella has just nipped to the loo. The girl so lost in her research that she doesn't notice her phone frantically buzzing on the corner of the desk. Yesterday, my laptop loudly started playing "No Diggity", and the mute button wouldn't kick in until after the chorus. The shame.

So, this blog isn't simply another passive aggressive release of frustration. It's a plea, really. The world is full of Library Assholes. That's because everyone is one, even you, even me. Sometimes it's an accident, and you can feel the people around you stopping what they're doing to write a Facebook status about you. So, let's all judge less harshly. People make mistakes, sometimes they don't realise they've been singing Taylor Swift out loud. Sometimes they really needed to play that level of Candy Crush.

Let's all just live and let live. Unless you're being one of those ostentatious sods, loudly having your lunch and treating the surrounding students to a rendition of "what happened to me last night". If you're one of them, well, you can just fuck off.