COVID-19 Update: 14 September 2020
The majority of the Apples and Snakes team have now returned to our office at The Albany in Deptford. You can reach us on 020 8465 6140 or via [email protected]. The office will be staffed from Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. Some members of the team will continue to work remotely or combine home and office hours throughout…
REFRESH: MAPPING THE FUTURE OF APPLES AND SNAKES
From our first event in the Adams Arms in London back in 1982, Apples and Snakes has grown into a national organisation at the forefront of the poetry and spoken word sector. Over the years, as spoken word trailblazers, we have supported incredible artists to develop work, created inspirational experiences for audiences and participants, produced…
The Rise of Nature Poems: Joseph Coelho
Poetry and nature writing have often gone hand in hand. African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote beautiful poems in the late 1800’s inspired by nature like Spring Song celebrating that longed for season… ‘And ever in our hearts doth ring This song of Spring, Spring!’ and Seedling… ‘As a quiet little seedling Lay within its…
Burning Eye Books: Q&A
We asked Clive Birnie from independent publisher Burning Eye Books a few questions about the world of publishing and the dos and don’ts of submitting your work. When setting up Burning Eye Books, why did you choose to focus on platforming spoken word artists in particular? I didn’t. It is not a term that I…
Jerwood Arts | Apples and Snakes Poetry in Performance programme
We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in our application to the Jerwood Development Programme Fund. Jerwood Arts | Apple and Snakes Poetry in Performance is a unique opportunity for ten spoken word poets from across the country to explore the performative potential of their work. Selected artists will participate in a residential…
Creative Community: Jacob Sam-La Rose and Rachel Long in conversation – Part 1
Facilitator, mentor, and writer Jacob Sam-La Rose and poet and curator Rachel Long discuss the merits, importance, and challenges of establishing, maintaining, and participating in creative communities. The following is a transcript of a conversation between Jacob and Rachel, edited lightly for readability. J: Had you been involved in creative communities before Burn After Reading…
Creative Community: Jacob Sam-La Rose and Rachel Long in conversation – Part 2
Facilitator, mentor, and writer Jacob Sam-La Rose and poet and curator Rachel Long discuss the merits, importance, and challenges of establishing, maintaining, and participating in creative communities. The following is a transcript of a conversation between Jacob and Rachel, edited lightly for readability. J: What, for you, is the difference between a community and a…
Slam Poetry: how do you maintain truth and authenticity in the face of success and demand?
Owen Craven-Griffiths Apples and Snakes’ Producer for the Midlands When it comes to spoken word it can sometimes be hard to define success. For many poets one indicator can be winning a major slam title. This was the case for me. In 2007 I won the UK Slam Championships at Stratford Theatre Royal under my…
Keisha Thompson: The Binary Brainwash
Binary. It basically means one thing or the other, right? But if you trace the word back it actually stems from the Latin word bini meaning ‘two together’. So when first appropriated into the English language its meaning was closer to that of ‘duality’ as opposed to the idea of mutual exclusivity we’ve become familiar…
Rowan McCabe: Door to Door Poetry
We spoke to North East poet and creator of Door-to-Door Poetry, Rowan McCabe, about poetry, kindness, and Brexit Britain… What is Door-to-Door Poetry? Door-to-Door Poetry is a project where I make a nuisance of myself by knocking on stranger’s doors and writing poems for them, for free, on any subject they like. When they answer…
Yomi and Tobi in conversation
Jawdance host and Apples and Snakes favourite Yomi Ṣode has been selected as a Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellow alongside Hafsah Aneela Bashir and Anthony Joseph. Each of the recipients receives £15,000 plus a year of critical support and mentoring with no expectation that they produce a particular work or outcome. Yomi sat down with our London Producer and newly…
Nicky Crabb: SPINE Festival 2019
SPINE Festival – a free, annual spoken word and cross artform festival taking place in libraries for children, young people and their families My local library was a special place to me as a child, I’d visit every week to discover new words, pictures and prized pieces of knowledge, it was peaceful and it smelt…
Joelle Taylor: Poetry and Protest
How were we to know/ that when we were cleansing/ we were erasing our whole existence – CUNTO, Joelle Taylor My whole life has been a protest, and my body a political placard. My body has also been a battleground and a bar room, a tourist spot and a cemetery, a haunted house and a roadside…
DigiPoets British Council Cultural Exchange
DigiPoets British Council Cultural Exchange: Podcast and Poet Blog Between 19 and 23 March 2019, three artists from Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia visited the UK as part of the British Council’s Southern Africa Arts programme #SouthernAfricaArts. Hamilton Chambela, Kgotla Molefe, and Jordan Lusaka participated in a week of cultural and creative excursions including trips to…
No Word Unspoken: Be bold. Speak out.
No Word Unspoken means be bold, speak out, there is power in what you have to say. Poetry helps us make sense of the world. At weddings we read poetry to celebrate, at funerals it helps us to grieve. Tony Walsh’s This is the Place and Ben Okri’s poem Grenfell Tower, June, 2017 are recent…
POETIC THEATRE MAKERS: MEET THE POETS AND THE PROJECT
Banner image left to right: Somalia Seaton, Chris Thorpe, Casey Bailey, Lanaire Aderemi, Adaya Henry, Sujana Upadhyay, Jasmine Gardosi & Chris McLoughlin. “We are excited about how the richness of poetry and the narrative of theatre can work together to tell stories in new ways. The industry needs to enable new creative dialogues – we are…
THE NEED FOR SLAMFRESH IN NEWCASTLE: BY ROWAN MCCABE
Myself and fellow poet Don MacDonald started SlamFresh because we both feel that there are very few opportunities for under 18s to perform at poetry events. Often poetry slams and open mics happen in a pub or a bar, so the only chance young people get to perform their work is in a school setting,…
Art as Therapy: Inua Ellams
My earliest memory of creation happened when I was 4/5 years old in Nigeria. I stuck four A4 sheets of paper together, planned an entire city and showed my father. He was so impressed, he gasped. Breath left his body. I caused a genuine physical reaction and he looked at me anew. I started drawing…
PROPER POETRY: CLASS AND SPOKEN WORD BY KIBRIYA MEHRBAN
…one of the reasons it all turned a bit weird was one of those guys saying ‘I don’t ever want to read [on stage] It’s such a vulgar thing to do.’ – Joolz Denby Despite what some people would have you believe, the history of poetry is an oral one, with a tradition going back…
Notes from the Midlands Aliyah Hasinah
Recent research via the Guardian found that £700 million is needed to give northern England (anywhere north of London) the same Arts Council funds and opportunities as those granted to London. The North South divide lives on but that doesn’t mean that all the work done isn’t impactful, it just means we need more and…
THE LIFE CHANGING POWER OF DISABILITY ARTS BY LISETTE AUTON
I am a writer, a poet, an actor and activist, a spoken word performer, a creative practitioner and facilitator, a feminist, a believer in human rights and kindness. I campaign and yell from roof tops. I decried the cuts and austerity which widened and widens the gap between haves and have nots to unassailable suicide…
INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING AND THE SMALL PRESS REVOLUTION BY KIT RAYNE
Poetry has been and still is a revolution. What else but revolution would cause such a drastic shift in a scene? A scene which is putting big name publishers to one side, more and more often choosing instead to support the small press, the independent, the noble amateur poet. My problem with saying revolution is…
Being an Artist in Residence for SPINE 2018: Amina Jama
“When I grow up, I want to be a Superhero Bubble-gum Trapper, and nobody can tell me otherwise” – Year 3 student I have always lived, studied and loved East London. For me, it is the single place on this island that I would ever consider home. I can easily distribute directions, name bus routes…
REDEMPTION SONGS AND ALTERNATIVE ANTHEMS: THE UNSOUND BARRIER BETWEEN POETRY AND MUSIC BY KIBRIYA MEHRBAN
If one of the main objectives of reading and writing poetry is to evoke emotion, then it’s no surprise that it would find a natural bedfellow in music. From bards of old to today’s most popular rappers, the intersections between music and poetry can be seen throughout history. For performance poetry, this is particularly significant….
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