Spoken word (or performance poetry as it’s also known) has been creeping into the public consciousness of late. Thanks to sites such as YouTube and SoundCloud, artists have found a digital platform on which to share their voice and their work. Performers such as Kate Tempest, George the Poet andJess Green, and festivals such as Glastonbury and The Last Word, have also helped. Performance poetry is fast becoming a staple of the entertainment circuit.
Aside from the obvious entertainment spin that spoken word puts on this traditional form of literature, it’s now being (rightly) recognised for its positive impact on the mental wellbeing of performers. I often hear about new and inspiring ways that the poetic voice is being used to achieve this, engaging with people from all walks of life, across a range of sectors.
I lecture at Bath Spa University. In 2005 we introduced the first ever performance poetry module in the UK. We’ve seen a pattern emerge in terms of the reasons why students choose to study with us – and it’s not simply to further their poetry careers.
[For more of this story, written by Lucy English, go to https://www.theguardian.com/cu...for-mental-wellbeing]
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