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Spoken Word Archive
35 years
of performance poetry
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Features

  • Interview with Lemn Sissay

    Interview with Lemn Sissay

    We interviewed Lemn Sissay about his archival memories: how he got started, and what Apples & Snakes gigs were like in the old days. And then he got on to slam… Interview by bleue granada     Film by Elysium Eight
  • Lydia Tomkiw

    Lydia Tomkiw

    Being an archivist is great. I like it when people ask ‘Yes, but what do you actually do?’ Well, right now I’m spending a lot of time linked up to a cassette-player and at least three pairs of headphones, digitising audio-recordings of Apples and Snakes’ shows from the 1980s and ‘90s. And when I’m ...
  • Pit Dragon: how an alternative picket-line stopped the coal lorries

    Pit Dragon: how an alternative picket-line stopped the coal lorries

    Birthday greetings card showing girl's face, a picturesque street and a message 'Best wishes for your birthday' - sample image only.
  • Proper Poetry: Class and Spoken Word

    Proper Poetry: Class and Spoken Word

    ‘…one of the reasons it all turned a bit weird was one of those guys saying ‘I don’t ever want to read It’s such a vulgar thing to do.’ – Joolz Denby Despite what some people would have you believe, the history of poetry is an oral one, with a tradition going ...
  • Redemption Songs and Alternative Anthems: The unsound barrier between poetry and music

    Redemption Songs and Alternative Anthems: The unsound barrier between poetry and music

    If one of the main objectives of reading and writing poetry is to evoke emotion, then it’s no surprise that it would find a natural bedfellow in music. From bards of old to today’s most popular rappers, the intersections between music and poetry can be seen throughout history. For performance poetry, ...
  • Spoken Word Poetry: the Animation

    Spoken Word Poetry: the Animation

    How do you encapsulate the many-headed hydra of spoken word in one three-minute soundbite? Bring in the talented folk at Creative Connection and get Charlie Dark on voiceover duty is our advice. Hold on to your hats…
  • Worthless Words, Zolan Quobble & a banner

    Worthless Words, Zolan Quobble & a banner

    To begin at the beginning. Apples and Snakes was born from the activities of Worthless Words, a writers’ collective that had enjoyed a peripatetic existence in South London since the late ’70s. Worthless Words’ best known alumnus is the left-wing comedian Mark Steel, although he’d jumped ship by the time ...
Latest comments
  • Bella on Contact usThe Spoken Word Archive is an amazing wealth of knowledge and history! It's so great to be able to track the progress of one's poetic heroes from grassroots to where they are now :) Thank you!
  • Fiona Marie on Lydia TomkiwThis is fascinating! It's sent me down an Algebra Suicide / Lydia Tomkiw researching wormhole.
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  • RT @VervePoetryFest: Tweets just can't contain ALL the splendid contents at the festival we have curated with @bbccslfest (8-11 SEP 2002) h…20 hours ago
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