Celebration: poetry anniversaries

Poetry in the UK: Ten years on stage. Five years on page.

This book was published five years ago. I wrote and illustrated it, painstakingly, taking a huge leap of faith and going to hell and back before, during, and after its creation process. For reasons obvious to those with memories and souls intact, I couldn’t tour it properly as I wanted to and still want to.

This month I also “celebrate” ten years of performing my words on stage, even if stumbles and falls along the way often make me feel like I’m going nowhere. Like I’m still on day zero of my journey as a writer and performer.

Like, for daring to take breaks to care for myself and others, I deserve to be erased and forgotten.

So I’m really pushing myself hard to be out there. To get out there and continue. To reach at the very least day one in my creative journey. And at the very best, here’s what I manifest, for myself and those who’ve been working their craft to the bone:

To headline shows everywhere where we don’t have to pay to get there, where the organisers are caring enough to pronounce everyone’s names right, where participants and audiences hype each other up rather than just waiting for their turn to talk, where we sell at least a few copies of our work every single time, and where we finally get some respect.

Because that’s what we owe to those who bare their souls on page and onstage, because it’s not an easy duty. At best it can make us feel awkward and shy and at worst it can cost us our lives.

And our souls might feel like they’re wilting sometimes. We’re broke, we’re exhausted, we’re torn into pieces. But the alternative, keeping quiet and staying hidden, is so much worse.

Because the opposite of depression is not mere happiness.

The opposite of depression is expression.

And expression’s what keeps us alive.

Live performance of this text at Bodacious, The Stairway Project, Leicester, UK 28th September 2025 Introduction by Carol Leeming MBE FRSA