A poet, and he knows it
POETRY is the new rock and roll? Well, not quite, but it's certainly been enjoying a resurgence in recent years.
Russell Crowe probably started the trend, with that poem that caused so much trouble at the Baftas. The likes of Damon Albarn and Paul Weller have always had an interest, while love-him-or-loathe-him rock star Pete Doherty is forever publishing his scrawlings about everything from a long-lost Arcadian dream to the state of the media and his on-off love affair with Kate Moss.
Such has been the rise in the popularity of poetry that - like almost everything else, it seems - it now has its own festival.
Now in its third year, the London Poetry Festival grew out of Poet's Letter magazine's series of performance poetry and live music events that began in March 2005 at the Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden.
This year's event runs from Friday to Monday at St John's Church, Waterloo Road, SE1, and features readings and performances from poets from across the UK - as well as a European night on Sunday featuring Tomas Sanchez Santiago, Dr Natalia Carbajos and Gracia Iglesia, among others.
Another expected highlight is the poets' residencies that will see four of the brightest young names in poetry invited to appear throughout the festival.
Among these is Tom Chivers, 24, from Whitechapel. The Oxford graduate has been writing verse since being inspired by his English teacher Jonathan Ward at Dulwich College in south London.
"He introduced me to some interesting poets away from the curriculum and it just spiralled from there," he said.
So much so that after a few years of writing, performing and hosting his own events - including several at the closure-threated Spitz venue in Spitalfields -Tom decided to set up his own performance poetry company, Penned In The Margins.
"It's going really well," said Tom. "It's just a strange occupation to put on the passport. I think I've got it down as 'live literature producer', while my dad tells people I'm a 'man of letters' - which I quite like."
Inspired by the likes of TS Eliot, Basil Bunting, Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney and Barry MacSweeney, as well as contemporary writers such as Alice Oswald and Kamau Brathwaite, the inspiration for much of Tom's "intrinsically musical" poetry is taken from his experiences and observations about life in London.
"Each of my poems is like a conversation with about 40 different people," he said.
Tom will be appearing on all four days of the London Poetry festival. Or you can catch him on the first Thursday of every month at the Whitechapel Gallery inWhitechapel High Street.
His debut collection of poetry - provisionally entitled London Pride, Mother's Ruin - is due out from Waterways Publishing later this year.
Tickets for the London Poetry Festival are £7 daily (£5 concs) from www.londonpoetryfestival.com. The festival finishes with live music every evening.