In this episode, PhD researcher Claire Palzer explores poetry performances at contemporary festivals, focusing on Lingo, Ireland’s spoken word festival (2014-2016). Claire talks about Lingo’s lasting impact and how the festival shaped the poetry that was performed there. The episode incorporates extracts from the poets/performers Kalle Ryan, Felicia Olusanya (aka Felispeaks), Aindrais de Staic, Karl Parkinson and Colin Hassard, as well as excerpts from interviews with Kalle Ryan, Mel Bradley, Abby Oliveira, and Phil Lynch, conducted by the host.
This episode was written and produced by Claire Palzer and edited by Marie Krebs of Poetry Off the Page.
The interviews are archived on the University of Vienna’s u:cloud service and can be accessed publicly here.
The performance and poetry extracts in the episode are taken from:
1. A personal video recording of Kalle Ryan’s introduction to Saul William’s performance at The Button Factory as part of Lingo Festival on18 October, 2015.
2. Recordings of the ‘North South East West… Lingo We Have Ignition’ event at The Workman’s Club as part of Lingo Festival on 21 October, 2016. The audio from this event was originally produced and broadcast live by Near FM with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland Sound and Vision scheme and was published online on 3 November 2016. (https://nearfm.ie/podcast/tag/north-south-east-west-slam/ )
References:
English, Lucy. “The Democracy of Poetry: The Bristol Spoken Word Scene.” Spoken Word in the UK, edited by Lucy English and Jack McGowan, Routledge, 2021, pp. 88–105.
Howarth, Peter and Rowena Hawkins. Festival as Form. 11 November 2023, https://www.festivalasform.org/ Accessed 15 February 2024.
Lingo. Lingo A Spoken Word Festival 2016. Lingo, 2016.
Lingofest. “Goodbye From Lingo.” Lingo, 4 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170909145643/http://www.lingofestival.com/goodbye-from-lingo/ Accessed 15 February 2024.
McGuckin, Mary. “Exploring Literary Festivals in Ireland.” International Journal of Event and Festival Management, vol. 14, no. 4, 2023, pp. 523–36. ProQuest, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-01-2023-0009.
Thompson, Russell. “Biting Back Against the Fascist Octopus: The Story of Apples and Snakes.” Spoken Word in the UK, edited by Lucy English and Jack McGowan, Routledge, 2021, pp. 17–26.
The theme music is “Playing in Colour” by user 29811401 on Pixabay.
You can access the episode transcript here.
To learn more about the project, our partners, and to find the episode transcripts, visit www.poetryoffthepage.net.
You can also follow us on
Twitter / X: @PoetryOff_Page
Instagram @Poetry_offthe_Page
or like us on Facebook (‘Poetry Off the Page’)!