Ellie Spirrett Interview

In the latest of our poet interviews, we have asked our October Headliner

Ellie Spirrett a bunch of questions, Ellie is an amazing poet, with a unique way

of drawing you into her world, with her use of metaphor and imagery. She is one of my

personal favourite poets, and I am always excited to hear what she is doing next.

 

 

I always used to play around with words

and imagery when I was little,

but didn’t really know that it was poetry!

I would write songs a lot too, I did some

projects with the amazing music artist

Homecut Testament from when I was 11

and learnt to write songs.

I was part of a poetry slam group in school,

but when the teacher left and the older students

grew up the group kind of fizzled out.

Then I didn’t perform as a poet again

until 2021 when I went to Some Antics

one friday, and since then I just haven’t stopped.

 

I think I’ve always used poetry

as a way to understand things,

like a journaling tool, where I share

some of it with an audience of friends

and strangers! Growing up I think I struggled

to put how my mind and body was feeling

into words in my day to day life,

so to be able to express it in metaphor was life-saving.

I think when I read or hear some really clever imagery

that resonates with me, it just tugs at my mind

like nothing else, so I’m always trying to do that

in my own work.

 

I pretty much write about what I’ve experienced,

seen, felt, and I try write what I have needed to hear

for anyone else who needs to hear it.

So a lot of my writing is about healing from trauma,

mental health, chronic illness, and all that fun stuff!

I think it’s such a brave thing to do to share something

you’ve been through, especially with a message to support

someone going through something similar

or to raise awareness of what it’s like.

It’s something I’m trying to get used to doing.

I think my poetry is very metaphor heavy,

a little surreal and “flowery”.

Someone pointed out to me recently

that I use a lot of imagery around bodies and houses,

and they asked

if this was on purpose as a running motif. I said yes...

I mean, the Leicester poetry scene

is where I started performing my poetry again

so it truly is home. I wouldn’t be half the poet

I am today without the open mics and the workshops

and the shows. The first time I went to Some Antics

back in summer 2021, Sammy came round with the tickets

and asked if any of us wanted to perform,

and I hesitated for about 2 seconds.

Next thing I know there’s a garden of people shouting “do it!”

From that first day I knew I could just say anything,

try anything and I’d always be met with open arms.

I think that’s true across the board for the Leicester scene,

because of all the amazing open mic hosts

and workshop facilitators.

I didn’t quite realise how special Leicester is

for poetry until I left.

There’s so much going on all of the time,

the only thing I’d improve is the train links

into Leicester so I could come more often!!

What poets do I enjoy?

Locally, I hear there’s some really good poets

at Get Mouthy called Kyle and Carolina..

truly probably the opposite ends of the poetry spectrum,

it’s like seeing Barbenheimer!

Both incredible

and somehow even better on the same night!

My good friend Marie (@drmarle.di)

was just published

in an anthology "Welcome To Britain",

and she’s absolutely amazing.

Chris Oliver (@chrisoliver_spokenword)

is killing it, just gets better every time I see him.

I recently went over to Derby

for a workshop for the first time,

and met some really talented poets over there,

including @amywpoetry @jackperforming @who.thefuckisalice

@thuggishimp & @richilyle – so go follow them

if you’re not already.

Last my friend Oak (@grandoldoak),

who I actually went to school with

and recently reconnected with

after about 10 years!

My Instagram is @yellow_ellie

I’m working up the nerve to get tik tok

so follow me on the gram to keep an eye out for that

 

 

 

A massive thank you to Ellie for taking the time to go over our questions,
and come up with such insightful answers and for putting up
with my begging that she agree to headline for us!

October 9th
Be there, it really will be a treat.

Peace, Love & Poetry

Kyle

 

Get Mouthy 3

 

Wow sometimes it is hard

to talk about a night.

I could list all of the performers,

and say how good they were,

but it would soon become boring.

Hearing me painting the amount

of praise over everyone

that I think they deserve.

So instead,

I'm going to write it in verse.

(It's what I do, I can’t help myself!)

 

But first,

thank you to everyone that turned up,

all of the performers new and old,

the legend that is Cathi Rae

who gave us a masterclass

with her headline set.

Her work is so important,

giving a voice to those

that may not be able to find their own voices.

The team at big difference for their great support.

My co-host who brings the room together.

Without all of you it wouldn't work. 

 

It is nights like this that give us so much joy,

because we connect with the words,

we can feel the emotion and the pain,

but it is also told in such a beautiful way

that we embrace it and can hold it

and know that collectively we can

Turn it into a promise, to love and learn

To offer supportive hands,

and to learn to love

our own fragile hearts.

 

 

The nights just get better,

like fingers 

acknowledging a great line,

sometimes it clicks.

The power in the room lifts,

It zips like electricity,

giving us ribbon-tied word gifts.

We unwrap them 

and embrace them,

let some take up home,

residents of your brain. 

 

Emotions shared,

tears wept, passion flared.

Whether it was

the heart worn upon

the sleeve,

or the fire that burns,

dancing upon tongues.

The displays of artistry,

the wordplay weaved.

The imagination,

stories that fuel the fire

that lights the stars

in our poetic constellations.

 

 

And tonight, that fire was lit.

It raged like an inferno,

flames tearing at the roof,

timber warping

under the crescendo,

of this heated poetry blaze.

Eyes watching dazed,

jaw wide open, left amazed.

 

Everything fit, 

like a jigsaw puzzle,

or two sides of a cuddle.

It felt like the room 

was connected,

a collective, all sharing,

and it was powerful.

It was joyous.

It was love and hope.

It was a cup of hot chocolate 

on a winter’s day.

It was a sun ray to a sad face.

It was perfect.

 

I walked out into

the still warm night,

a smile painted, big and wide

over my face. This was a reminder

of what this world of words is all about,

and I never want to stop smiling.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Peace, Love & Poetry

Kyle

Cathi Rae interview

 

Cathi Rae interview 

 

 

1. When did you start writing poetry ?

Like many people, I wrote terrible angst-ridden teenage poetry, 

luckily none of these have survived, I suspect that many of them 

were about unrequited love. I started writing in a serious and 

systematic way in my late 40s and was particularly interested in 

experimental fiction, heavily influenced by the work of Lydia Davis. 

I came to poetry even later, discovering the spoken word scene 

and finding out that even as a completely unknown and unpublished poet 

there were spaces where it was possible to share your work.

 

2. why do you write poetry ?

Because I don’t have the stamina for a novel and I’m poor at plotting 

or thinking of good narratives! I write poetry because the poetic form, 

the discipline of trying to say complicated things in very few words suits me. 

I think a really good poem 

( and I’m not for a moment saying that I write really good poems)

 can touch people in a way that a novel or a short story simply can’t. 

I strive to write at least one good poem that speaks to other people.

 

 

 

3. what is your favourite thing about writing poetry?

Attempting to find solutions, paring down language to its essence,

expressing ideas in their most compact form. In poetry there is no space 

for the non-essential, its always about editing down, getting rid of what 

doesn’t work. In poetry there is nowhere to hide. A lot of my work uses 

other people’s life experiences so there is the challenge of creating something 

that expresses what they have shared with me in the best poetic form.

 

4. describe your own work?

For the last 3 years I have been working on a creative PhD, conducting lengthy 

unstructured interviews with people who wanted to tell me about their lives 

( these are the poems I will be performing @Get Mouthy). 

These poems are not about my life or my preoccupations or even my attitudes to life. 

My role has been to create work that best expresses other people’s lives in ways 

that are respectful and honour the people who have taken part in this project. 

Generally, I am not very interested in writing about my own life, my previous 

large scale project was a collection of 24 contemporary elegies for men 

who had committed suicide 

( this collection will be published by New Walk Press in 2024/25).

 I am particularly interested in writing poems about people 

who don’t expect to have poems written about them, 

giving a voice to the marginalised and the un-represented.

 

 

5. what do you think about the Leicester spoken word scene?

For a relatively small city, Leicester is definitely punching above its weight, 

with 6 and maybe more regular monthly spoken word events 

and lots of opportunities for open mic performance. 

It’s great that some of these events also use local poets and performers as headliners too. 

It is however still really difficult for poets to make that leap from open mic performer 

to paid headline or support act and it would be so good 

if there was some more formal infrastructure to support local poets in career development.

 

6. Who are your favourite poets? 

 

I am in a fortunate position to be able to read a lot of poetry 

and try to read something every day, poets I return to again and again include; 

Sharon Olds, Elizabeth Bishop, Marge Piercy, Mary Oliver. 

More contemporary poets I would recommend include; Joelle Taylor, 

Raymond Antrobus, Kathryn O’Driscoll, Caleb Femi 

and Leicester’s own Lydia Towsey.

 

 

7. Anything else you would like to add ?

In the last 3 years I have had the opportunity to teach creative writing 

and to take up writer in residence roles, 

it’s a truism but I can genuinelysay that I have learnt as much 

from these roles from the students and service users 

I have worked with than I have given back. 

I would recommend taking your poetry to unexpected places 

to any poet who wants to learn more.

Outside of poetry, I am a passionate campaigner against ageism 

and the invisibility of older people in the media. 

I am an advocate for sustainable and mindful consumption, 

championing the joy of preloved and charity shop fashion. 

I post regularly on Instagram, you can find me there 

@cathirae