London Today IV: BITTERSWEET

As an anthology, Bittersweet is one of
today’s finest collections of contemporary black women’s poetry in all its
diversity across the Diaspora, including Britain,
the US, Asia, Africa and the
Caribbean. It brings together best-selling
authors alongside the powerhouse of new British writing.
On stage, Bittersweet
is a unique spoken word experience: follow the gritty visceral lyrical poetry
and unique combination of visuals and spoken word by poet, songwriter and
filmmaker Jamika Ajalon, the charismatic and engaging performance style as well
as the audacious and poignant poetry of Malika Booker, and the vibrant and
pointed reading of Karen McCarthy. Together they create a highly charged and
dynamic stage presence, a widely celebrated spoken word event.
The oral
tradition of story-telling and poetry is a fundamental medium for creating
culture, preserving history and transforming community and self. Revived in the
‘nineties in the US and UK by a whole generation of mostly migrant or black
young urban poets, this strong expression for the experience of
marginalisation, of living in more than one culture and speaking in more than
one tongue, gained momentum. “In a world that renders us silent, the very act
of speaking is our form of protest.”
The Bittersweet Collection, and the
performance of McCarthy, Ajalon and Booker demonstrate the tremendous diversity
and scope of this cultural expression. Although frequently dealing with similar
topics (such as family relations, cultural history, the commemoration of
slavery, alienation and otherness) there is a big difference in style and form.
Some writers develop specific characters through whom they speak, demonstrating
a concern for “giving voice.” Others make use of elements of storytelling,
although clearly working within a lyric poetry tradition.
“[Bittersweet] makes
it clear that there is a great deal of hunger for the work of these fine
multicultural writers in a country whose poetry has been mired in the bog for
at least one long generation. These young Black female poets are very much the
future of British literature…it’s a bittersweet irony that this British poetry
which exudes historical awareness and contemporary cultural vibrancy is a gift
created by the formerly colonised subjects.“ — KONCH Magazine

organised by: Mesto žensk / City of Women
in cooperation with: KUD France Prešeren
with the support ofThe British Council