Dear BBC: you obviously ain’t done your homework...

pic by: GirlReporter

I was watching BBC News 24 a few hrs back (a sub-program called 'Your News'), and there was a report about a Poetry Idol competition in Abu Dhabi called 'The Prince of Poets' (you might wanna read this too) (If the comp's open to both sexes, then why call it 'Prince' of Poets?)

Any-hay-way, after the report was aired, the presenter asked a guy (male, middle-aged, white - now why doesn't that surprise me?) if a similar sort of competition was possible in Britain.

The guy says he's not sure something like that was possible in Britain as he felt Britain has lost its oral tradition.

Three things:

1) Dear BBC, there is an event (in London) called Poetry Idol - a spoken-word competition organised by Shortfuse.

2) Dear BBC, don't you remember you've been running a BBC Poetry Slam every year since 2005?

Is a poetry slam not modelled on the oral tradition? Pray, tell me, BBC?

Or, wait, maybe there's a BBC pretending to be you with the same website? Stranger things have happened (like showing black programs in the wee hours of the morning).


3) Why didn't they interview a cross section of poets, not just a middle-aged white poet who runs a poetry event in Ealing? I mean, there are a whole range of poetry events out there. Here are just a few:

- Word4Word run by Kat Francois (who, coincidentally, won the BBC3 Poetry Slam back in 2005)

- Speakeasy run by Baden Prince Jnr

- The Poetry Café in Covent Garden have a poetry event for almost every day of the week.

- 'Sounds Like' run by TShirt and Jeans, performance poetry org Apples & Snakes, the funky Poejazzi, Process at the RoundHouse in Camden.

- The Rise London Youth Slam

- The London Teenage Poetry Slam

- Hammer & Tongue who run a series of poetry slams & regular poetry events in Oxford & Brighton


(**Most of these are in London. There are loads outside London though.)


So why weren't the poets/poetry organisers of those events interviewed? Or is that just too much work, BBC?


I often look at the world through Martin-Luther-King tainted glasses. I'll hug the hell out of any human (as long as they don't smell, ya get me?, or aren't looking for a grope). When colour becomes the sole reason for one person or persons to gain (or be given) an advantage (or disadvantage), then as we'd say in pidgin English: na problem oh.. Art should be a playground for everyone, not exclusive.