The Verb

IanMcMillan, photo from Norwich Arts Centre website.

Last night I went to see Ian McMillan doing a recording of The Verb at Norwich Arts Centre with my pal Heidi Williamson, that talented poet.  I'm not much one for poetry, I have to admit.  I find a lot of it hugely pretentious.  Studying Wordsworth for my degree probably didn't help.   But  I love Ian McMillan because of his voice and his dry humour - his work is full of wit, he makes the ordinary beautiful without sounding poncy and I adore that, which is why I wanted to go.  (He also has the most incredible voice and Barnsley accent - I could listen to him read the Phone Book for the rest of my life and be happy!)

At the beginning of the evening, I sat there listening to a discussion about performance poetry, thinking 'why the f**k am I here, this is awful'.  I could hardly follow what was being said, it seemed so ridiculous to me.  And then the guests started reading their work.

Mind-blowing moment.

I had forgotten language could be so amazing, such a dazzling tapestry of image.  'Grapefruits and trombones'.  Breathtaking.

So I'm not going to slag off poets anymore.  I'm going to learn from them.  Look at the way I use language in my work.  Listen to words, fit them together in as many unexpected combinations as I can, expand my vocabulary.  And maybe I'll got to a few more poetry readings.   I know, its daring, but it might just work....

If you want to listen to the edition of The Verb which we witnessed, and hear me whooping in the background, its on BBC Radio 3 on Friday night, 14th October 2011, at 10pm.  You could probably also get it on BBC iPlayer.