Here in the latest of our Get Mouthy interviews,
we speak to upcoming headliner Julia Wood
hope you enjoy, and if anyone wants to be interviewed
then please feel free to contact
the Get Mouthy team on instagram.
and without further ado...
When did you start writing poetry?
I have been writing and calling myself a writer
ever since I
can remember.
I have written poetry since I was a child,
and as a teen
poetry was my main literary outlet.
Do you remember what your first pieces were about?
My early pieces were about nature,
as I grew up in a country
village.
I was inspired by the nature poets
of eighteenth-century Romanticism,
in particular Keats,
then I discovered the music of Soft Cell
and was influenced by Marc Almond’s
biting cultural observations about contemporary life,
the cynicism and cultural
criticism of his lyrics inspired me
and shaped me as an artist,
as did the
lyrics of Morrissey.
Why do you write poetry?
These days I find it a good outlet for cultural commentary.
I am a published author of non-fiction; my background is in academia.
I have
always considered myself a cultural critic,
but much academic writing can be
inaccessible
and impenetrable in its structure and terminology.
The pieces I write for performance are quite colloquial in
their style,
as connectivity with my audience is important to me,
and I like to
write pieces to which I hope audiences will relate.
I use humour in my work to
satirise many aspects of our culture,
as I see humour as an important tool for
catharsis
and I enjoy making people laugh.
What is your favourite thing about it?
I think writing something new is always exciting,
but I’d
say my favourite thing about it
is the pure play with language that poetry
engages;
the puns on words, the freedom to play with the musicality of language
and this is why I like to use song in my pieces.
Because of their eclecticism,
I see my pieces as collages,
a blend of spoken word, song, and voice effects.
When it comes to your own work,
how would you describe it?
Energetic, eclectic and witty cultural commentary
about the
things I observe around me, in our society,
probably a little bit eccentric by
general standards!
In one piece, random bursts of opera convey
the huff and
puff of the storm that is ‘Arthur’;
in another a childhood playground song
conveys the torment
of FOMO, (Fear of Missing out) as perpetuated by constant
exposure
to social media in terms of how it can affect our mental health;
in
another, (Apocalypse Meow) the dismal news announcements
are punctuated by a
chorus of cooing noises and cats purring to create
the stark contrast between
fear and comfort. And so forth…
What themes inspire you?
I am inspired by the things I see around me,
by anything and
everything that fires my imagination.
Punchy titles inspire me. In one of my
recent pieces,
the title, Alice in Chunderland, inspired a piece
about the
perils of binge drinking,
exploring it through the eyes of a pre-twenty
something
character and her struggles to navigate the adult world.
Tell us a little more about your work,
and what moves you.
I think I’ve mainly answered this above,
but I am moved to
write when I feel a connection with something.
Because I am also a novelist,
I
often write from the point of view of a character
and to explore this and to do
justice
to it I have to feel a sympathy with the character
I am writing about;
I also have to feel
that I have something unique to say.
For example, I don’t generally write about politics,
or from
a political POV,
because I don’t feel I have anything new
or original to add.
I
also feel that the things that really matter
in today’s word; the issues that
we are faced with
go beyond party politics,
and strike at the very essence of
our core humanity.
I always write in the hope that I can touch peoples’ hearts,
usually to make them laugh, but sometimes to move them to tears,
because crying
too, is often cathartic and healing.
In Leicester we are trying to unite the poetry scene,
in
collaboration with other poetry nights,
How would you describe the Leicester poetry scene,
and what,
in your opinion could be improved upon?
I think the Leicester poetry scene is an absolute credit
to
this vibrant amazing city; it’s a joy
to be involved in spoken word and I never
cease to be enthralled
by the breadth and wealth of talent there is out there.
The only thing I would say is that the three-minute limit
is
a little tight and I’ve often been unable to perform
some of my favourite
pieces because they run over the time limit.
Of course, I understand there has
to be a limit, but if that limit
could be five minutes instead of three, I
personally would find that helpful!
I expect not every performer would use all
of that time,
but it would give those of us with slightly longer pieces
less of
a feeling that we are rushing them
and not doing justice to them
performatively.
Do you have any favourite poets,
both locally and further
afield that you would like to share?
Favourite poets include Oscar Wilde, John Betjemen,
Keats,
AE Housman.
Sadly, they are all deceased. 😢
Locally, I would like to mention two friends of mine,
both
superb poets and performers: Kerry Gallagher,
and Kane Corvus. These two are
well worth seeing
for those who haven’t yet done so!
If people want to follow your social media,
where can they
find you?
My Instagram handle is @victorianscribe
Twitter is @edwardianspice
My website is www.julia-wood.com where you can check out
more of my work, including my Jenny Bean novel.
Its sequel, Jenny Bean,
Calamity Queen,
was shortlisted for the CWIP prize 2023
and is being published
by Farago Press in April.
You can also find extracts from my published short stories
and links to buy the anthologies,
as well as my live spoken word performances.
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