Birmingham poets tell stories that reflect home which has an influx of new voices coming in.
Source : @Álvaro Serrano/Unsplash
The second city will have a new poet laureate for National Poetry Day which is on the 6th October.
Currently, Birmingham’s Poet laureate is Casey Bailey, a writer from Nechells, he often writes his poems with the setting of Birmingham in mind.
Gregory Leadbetter, English Professor at BCU, spoke to Birmingham Eastside about the importance of telling stories of where we come from.
“It’s important to be aware of locality and place,” said Gregory Leadbetter.
He explained that Birmingham has its own distinctive culture and is in a way non-conformist thus the poetry should be representative of the pluralistic culture.
Leadbetter is working on a poetry project for the BBC and is chairing the Birmingham Literature Festival.
The focus of the festival is the Midlands and how creativity is found around Birmingham.
The poet explained that although poetry brings people together, Birmingham experiences a lot of discrimination for its accents.
However, the poet shared that poetry does break down boundaries around accents.
“It’s more prominent now… Lizz Berry, though from black country, has drawn attention to midlands dialect.”
Poetry in comparison to other modes of literature is more personal as it deals with blurring the lines between nonfiction and fiction, according to English lecturers.
Serena Trowbridge, Reader in Victorian Literature and lecturer at BCU, also spoke to Birmingham Eastside about how poetry is a relevant medium in sharing ideas.
“Poetry can often be more personal to the poet but also to the reader, we take poems on into ourselves in a different way to fiction. For example if you learn a poem by heart it becomes part of your own thought processes.”
The English professor explained that poetry gives us a way of expressing things.
“The best poetry is clear and speaks directly to us… Poetry offers a way of communicating ideas that are often universal, resonating with the people that are reading. Poetry remains a relevant medium for the people that are reading it.”
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