Spidergirls

Live poetry with Henry Normal.

Back in April 2017, I performed at the Nottingham Poetry Festival as part of Mouthy Poets, a group dedicated to helping young poets develop their work and present it to audiences. Although the collective had ceased to exist since the end of 2016, its members continued to perform occasionally under that name until 2020, when some members created Gobs Collective to continue the idea and extend it to emerging poets of all ages.

Due to imposter syndrome and several internal conflicts, I didn't want to go to the presentation, but I went anyway. It was in a small, dark loft converted into an event space on the top floor of a four-story building. I had hurt my foot, as always back then, a few months earlier, but I bravely climbed all the stairs.

I introduced myself and read a poem I had written just a few weeks before. It was about the feeling of being inadequate as a woman, or as someone raised as a woman, in my own body, how many of us went through the same thing, and how the solution to our body image issues was almost always, “At least a man loves me as I am.” Though sometimes only half-heartedly. Though sometimes not at all. Added to that was, “At least this imperfect body was able to produce children,” and those of us who couldn't or didn't want to were left feeling even more imperfect.

And that feeling of inadequacy was definitely felt climbing the stairs, barely breathing, wobbling in the dimensions I had then and with my pains.

After reading the poem, under fairy lights, before an audience I felt wasn't paying attention, a middle-aged man approached me. He calmly greeted me and said, "That was the best poem of the night."

That man was Henry Normal.

Die-hard Anglophiles may or may not know his name, but they will certainly be familiar with some of his work. He is a poet, comedian, and screenwriter who has spent over thirty years shaping British comedy as we know it. Many of the works of Steve Coogan, for instance, were written with Henry. Among them, the film Philomena. He also wrote with Caroline Aherne for shows such as Mrs. Merton, a parody of an afternoon show featuring an old lady who brought other old ladies to watch her interview people, and whose studio band included Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order, Caroline's husband at the time. Peter Hook's mum was also one of the old ladies who came to see Mrs. Merton. For younger, more or less nu-rave generations, Henry Normal was also involved in The Mighty Boosh, with Noel Fielding before he became the crush of every lady who watches the British Bake Off.

And I could go on and on about everything Henry has done. But he's done quite a lot. With other people and on his own. We owe him so much. I owe him so much. That night, his praise inspired me enough to keep writing and keep expressing myself.

Three years later, the poem was printed as part of Meanwhile, my debut poetry collection with Burning Eye Books.

Last week, Henry came to Leicester, the city where I live part of the year. He played at a small, independent venue, quite beloved in the city. It used to be called The Cookie, now it's The Big Difference, and I've performed there as a musician, poet, and emcee at various points in my life. The stage is cozy and intimate. It's in the basement, and there aren't nearly as many steps as there were that time in Nottingham.

Now that I'm getting back into poetry and performance, I took the opportunity to go see him, thank him for that time, and give him a copy of my book.

And so I did. And it got even better.

Henry invited me to read the poem on stage.

Henry Normal brought me up on stage during the second half of his show. It was like something out of a Wattpad story. As I mentioned, it was like Harry Styles inviting a young fan to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. And it just so happens that my poem has something to do with spiders. Girls who are spiders.

It's called Spidergirls, and here's the evidence on video:

I owe the translation to my Spanish-speaking friends, but that will come when I release the book's bilingual edition. In the meantime, I uploaded this version with English subtitles to Instagram. I'm also sharing it here, in case you've already fulfilled my dream of quitting social media.

Keep building your own webs, and keep supporting those who are doing the same, joining your webs together if possible.