Our next headliner is someone that I truly look up to,
without Some-Antics I wouldnt be doing what I do now.
They gave me belief that I could take the stage
and that I would enjoy it.
Also Sammy has always bought my books,
and has basically lost a room of his house to my words!
He is also pretty good at making a cup of tea
and has cats, so a true legend i think youl agree!
When did you start writing poetry?
Do you remember what
your first pieces were about?
I always enjoyed writing poetry in school.
Being honest I
don’t remember what I wrote poems about back then,
probably prompts given in
English lessons!
As an adult,
I popped into the spoken word tent
at Shambala
Festival 2012
and watched some poets.
I didn’t even know performance poetry was
a thing!
I was really inspired and went home and found a rap I’d written
about
being on a very delayed train
(whilst on a very delayed train)
when I was at
uni and practiced it.
I took it to Jawdance in Shoreditch and that was it,
I
had the bug.
Why do you write poetry?
Playing with words in fun,
when you write something cool you
feel really proud of it.
It’s also a healthy way to express yourself
and you
can share it with others
who are also into it and be part of that community,
which is a great place to be.
What is your favourite thing about it?
I just love words and I the creative ways people can put
them together.
You can find beauty and talent in the local scene
as well as the
big hitters that everybody knows and I love that.
When it comes to your own work, how would you describe
it?
I would say it’s heartfelt and honest.
What I do has changed
so much over the years
so it’s been interesting to see the progression,
from
more rap, rhyming style to a more considered
spoken word style these days, in
theory anyway!
What themes inspire you?
Exploring my heritage and identity for one,
I’m of
Irish-Palestinian descent
so there’s a lot to unpack there.
I used to write
about politics a lot
but I try and avoid that nowadays.
General life and
situations I find myself in
pops up a lot, as well as mental health.
Tell us a little more about your work, and what moves
you?
I have a book released through the amazing SanRoo Publishing,
a local publisher run by Sandra and Ru Pollock, absolutely fantastic ladies.
I’ve been working on some more material
but it’s been slower going the last couple of years,
most of my poetry energy goes into Some-Antics, my event.
I’m definitely moved by open and honest poetry
that is someone expressing themselves.
Sometimes we can get caught up
in trying to write crowd pleasing or slam winning material,
which I respect, but the rawness of a well-crafted poem
that lays it all on the line in a creative way really gets me.
Also funny poetry.
I love it when a poem is silly
or is satirical in a humorous way.
In Leicester we are trying to unite the poetry scene,
in
collaboration with other poetry nights,
how would you describe the Leicester
poetry scene, a
nd what, in your opinion could be improved upon?
The scene here is huge,
we have so many poetry nights
and a
massive appetite for it!
The promotors of all the events tend to get on well
and I respect what Ty’rone Haughton
has been doing to get everyone
to work
together on the Leicester Poetry Committee.
In terms of improvements,
I think continuing to work
together on the committee
is a good thing and I’m interested to see where it
goes.
The Leicester Poet Laureate is such a cool idea,
it would be great to see
the Leicester City Council
back it with some finances and energy,
but that may
be for the future.
I’d love to see a Leicester Poetry Festival too,
I don’t
think we’re that far away from it.
Do you have any favourite poets,
both locally and further
afield that you would like to share.
There’s so many!
I’m so blessed to see so many amazing poets
at Some-Antics each month.
I’m too scared to start naming names
for fear of
leaving anyone out!
In lieu of poets I’ll share some of my favourite poems:
B Dolan – Who Killed Russel Jones?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97W1sLRsrtE
Berkavitch - Short List of Things We Already Know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRwu9r0bk1I&t=57s
Brendan Constantine - The Opposites Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf5t_uhZlEQ
Mark Grist – It’s Still a Fucking Poem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFW_Mzdbc4I
Kid Anansi – I’m so Straight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0WSuhX6f6I
If people want to follow your social media where can they
find you.
People can find me on:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sammy.nour.5
Insta - @sammy_someantics
And Some-Antics
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/someantics.poetry
Insta - @someanticsleicester
TikTok - @someanticsleicester
Thanks, I’m looking forward to Get Mouthy!
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