#attemptingartistry

Jazz Verse Jukebox 24.05.19 @hoxtonhall Lighting got me out here looking like an angel! 😇 - - “Becoming” filmed by the ever supportive, ever wonderful real MVP @corey.p.poet 🙌🏼💛🙌🏼 - - - #poet #poetry #poem #becoming #theglass #glowing #growth #lighting #london #attemptingartistry (en Hoxton Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx5i1pxjVd5/?igshid=1wj4p2tyfpe46

Shout out to my #Vans sneakers for seeing me through 2 consecutive #EastLondon performances this week! 😉😎 - - First up on Tuesday at @ht_hackney slam finals I got to compete alongside some of the best in the field and witness some super deserving poets be crowned winner and runner up: @rickdove & @bexgordonpoet respectively 🙌🏼 (Massive thanks to @daisytgee for showing up AND making me look good - as per. 📸) - - Next up, I spent Wednesday working with the kids at @cardinalpolerc to prepare for their #poetryshowcase which was BRILLIANT despite a no-show, a nosebleed, an inter-year quarrel and some very nervous performers! I am so proud of all these kids have achieved and so thankful that I get to bare witness to it. Massive thanks to @christianfoleypoet for doing the thing and putting it all together! Great also to see @raymond_antrobus back for the show at the school where he began the whole Resident Artist Educator thing to start with. I am so thankful that both of you have created such a wonderful ethos for poetry here & for having me be part of it. 🙏🏼 - - Coming upppp we’ve got me writing poems for the @thepoetrytakeaway at the #LondonPrideParade on Saturday with @nationwide so come say hello if you can! - - - #attemptingartistry #poet #performer #educator #facilitator #artist #london #picoftheday #poetry #spokenword #slam #showcase #lgbtqpoetry #pride #thingstodoinlondon (en London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzg0uScjAWS/?igshid=1qjee0mzth150

What a gorgeous afternoon at @redbridgelibraries Book Awards! I got to share some of my work with 11-16 yr old students from schools across London who, admittedly, were not sure if they liked poetr at first! But swipe to see their comments after they heard some #spokenword :p - - Convinced everyone to be in a #stageselfie with me, then had my first ever queue of people asking for #autographs! Incredibly validating 😊 and one girl even drew a picture of me!!! So many gorgeous bright lights in that room today. - - Massive thanks to Nina Simon for putting on this whole event and for inviting me to be a part of it. It’s beautiful to bare witness to the next generation of #writers as they discover themselves. Thank you. - - - #attemptingartistry #poet #poetry #performer #bookaward #drawing #doodle #fanart #ceremony #london #ilford #art #kids #poetryforkids #spokenword (en Ilford Town Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzN_DqQDDe4/?igshid=puwc3oboucyh

Lee Krasner is/was an incredible artist who refused to succumb to the pressure of finding a signature style of creating art and sticking to it like so many of her contemporaries. Her art morphs as she does. It is hugely autobiographical and, as such, hugely personal. - - I am pictured and filmed here in front of her piece ‘Another Storm’ reading a poem I wrote from her perspective entitled “Behold”. At the time of writing I felt I could hear her voice telling me not to make a metaphor out of her and demanding that she be given her due respect. I hope I have done her justice. - - It was a real honour to be selected as one of two poets to perform at this fundraising gala alongside the wonderful wordsmith that is @byfordkatie :) & a real pleasure to eat and mingle in the @barbicancentre conservatory for the first time. Thank you so much for having me. - - Photo credit to @_aislingf & @byfordkatie Thank you for capturing these!!! - - - #attemptingartistry #poet #poetry #poetryinlondon #artgallery #leekrasner #exhibition #barbicancentre #performance #art (en Mysterious Barbican Art Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzNLycjjEvM/?igshid=1lj4mmi84r9az

Got to share the @hoxtonhall stage with these incredible poetic and musical lights tonight. A beautiful evening i will cherish. Thank you for having me be a part of this #10yearsanniversary celebration🎤🎷🎼🎉 - - - #attemptingartistry #london #poet #poetry #fridaynight #jazzversejukebox #beauty #dreamchasing #dreamcatching (en Hoxton Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx3NZBzDqvc/?igshid=1a994burz11l3

It took me ages to learn how to write a good artist bio. - - I had no idea how to start. The process felt cringey, self-aggrandising and somehow also false and altogether Not Fun. What do you put in it!? What’s relevant? How long, how short, how quirky should it be? What do booking agents even care about? Should it be funny, self-effacing, cocky!? Which venues matter? Which parts of ME matter? - - - Plus then theres the ‘high definition headshot’ that needs to be taken properly and convey the right ‘you’ for the job and, take my word for it, a self-timer picture taken in front of a white wall at home wearing too much lipstick is NOT the way to go. 🙅🏻‍♀️ - - - But now, 5+years into my #attemptingartistry as a “career poet” I am happy to say that I have finally cracked it for myself. 💃🏻This bio works for me*. It feels honest, it conveys the right amount of skill/experience without sounding pushy or forced (i think) and its clear about who I am and what I can do when booked for a job. - - - So, im sharing this here, along with the names of some epic London-based photographers who I owe some of my best headshots to, in the hopes that it maybe helps some of you get a few more gigs - or at least feel less alone in the bio-writing struggle. DM me if you have any further questions, id be happy to help. - - *this might not be the right format for everyone :) - - 📸Photographers: @tyronelewis22 @kukadoodles @daisytgee @andre_ll_media - #careerpoet #bio #howtowriteabio #artistbio #artist #london #poet #performer #mc #eventhost #attemptingartistry #attemptingadulthood #mentorship #spokenword #community (en London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxuyieLjcls/?igshid=1ctreactljl8w

Another month of exciting gigs! Let me know if you come or are planning to come to any of these by commenting below, and tell me if theres a poem you wanna hear! 🎤 🎤 🎤 More deets: Speakeasy is a scratch night in Soho that allows artists to try out new stuff run by the wonderful @kit_finnie & @kieranistrying and there is an open mic available! - - Unseen Mentor is a show within the Brighton Literature Festival @brightonfestival @brightfestival celebrating the power and necessity of mentorship within the arts with poetry king @jacobsamlarose as the mentor in question & myself, @gabrielpoiesis & @miriamnash speaking about his glory! - - - Jazz Verse Jukebox is a monthly event held at @hoxtonhall and run by the gorgeous @jumokef alongside a v v talented band that adds music to poetry performances! There is a lucky draw open mic for those of you who want to air your voice too! - - - #poetry #london #spokenword #attemptingartistry #performer #upcominggigs #thingstodoinlondon #brighton #brightfestival #literature #music #poems (en United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxEz8FChSdK/?igshid=25sv5oxjexel

International Women’s Day today. I give thanks for all the soft spaces women have and continue to make for me. I give thanks for all our tender considerations, for our fierce protection, for our avid daily determinations. I give thanks for all that we are and strive to be. And I ask that men learn to see, love and understand all of this and more. - - Performed and photographed at Thats What She Said @thebookclub.ldn last week. - - #internationalwomensday #poem #iwd2019 #london #attemptingartistry (en London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwRP0phH_Q/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1lgifzl1i4c1p