There is a quote by the Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges that often comes up when there is debate about the respective merits of lyrics and poetry: \u201cTruly fine poetry must be read aloud\u201d it reads. \u201cA good poem does not allow itself to be read in a low voice or silently. If we can read it silently, it is not a valid poem: a poem demands pronunciation. Poetry always remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art. It remembers that it was first song.\u201d
\nThis is a quote that may be pertinent for those venturing along to one of the events at the inaugural BridLit Fringe, which surfaces around Bridport from Monday 12th to Friday 16th November. Organiser Roy Gregory, from Clock Tower music, explained that the event was born out of a conversation with the poet Kirsty Allison, who felt that her particular performances were not an ideal fit for more traditional literary festivals. On November 14th at the Lyric Theatre Kirsty will be exploring the dappled light that lies somewhere between lyrics and poetry.
\nBilled as \u2018Kirsty Allison and the Children of the Midnight Sun\u2019 the evening at the Lyric is a collaboration between Kirsty and musical artist Gil De Ray. It follows on from their absorbing and engrossing film Double Play which was shot partly in New Orleans and partly in the Hellfire Caves. Kirsty chalked up a graffiti poem around New Orleans\u2019 industrial Crescent Park which she then recited in a haunting monotone over Gil\u2019s musical accompaniment.
\nThe format of the evening\u2019s performance stems from Kirsty\u2019s infamous \u2018Sylvia Plath fan club\u2019 nights in Shoreditch, where different musicians and writers were invited to come and perform their work. \u2018There\u2019s complications between what is poetry and people being snotty about what is poetry on the page\u2019 explains Kirsty. \u2018The whole Sylvia Plath fan club thing that I did was exploring the difference between lyrics and poetry and getting different musicians to come down and perform. That was part of the thesis of running that night.\u2019
\nCurrently working on the final edit of her first novel Vagrant Lovers which is published by Wrecking Ball Press next year, Kirsty explained that her performances with Gil are part experiment and part exploration. \u2018There needs to be room for that\u2019 she says. \u2018It\u2019s kind of storytelling and proposition. There\u2019s different styles within it. One piece was written as a folk song and it\u2019s transposed into more of a soul piece. There\u2019s some more upbeat, party hip-hop and there\u2019s a really gothic piece that I call \u201c\u2018super gothic\u201d. It\u2019s my Frankenstein story about East London called Ghosts of St Leonards.\u2019
\nAfter an early stint as a DJ Kirsty began her writing career as a music journalist and has since written for Vogue, Dazed, Elle and a wide range of other magazines, including her own Cold Lips. She didn\u2019t start performing until 2009. \u2018I needed to break up the style of commercial writing\u2019 she says. \u2018I needed to break out of the confines of commercial writing, which is when I started performing poetry.\u2019
\nAt times compared to Pattie Smith, Kirsty says John Cooper Clarke was a big influence. But she also cites what she calls the Soho Poets; Jock Scott, Phil Dirtbox and Gary Fairfull whom she used to run a club with. \u2018They\u2019re very much people that you have to have an ear to the ground to know of\u2019 she says. \u2018For some reason, they\u2019ve kind of guided me into whatever I\u2019m doing now.\u2019 She gets associated with punk. \u2018It\u2019s the attitude of trying to instil that kind of subcultural thing that I was part of, growing up in London.\u2019 Although there has always been subculture, Kirsty sees it changing. She sees it as being a lot harder to be involved in \u2018because the hegemonic, demonic society has just increased to such a degree that kids supporting themselves outside of capitalism is very, very difficult.\u2019 She believes that the club culture has become such an industry now that \u2018it\u2019s more rebellious to go to Weatherspoon\u2019s and to shop in Primark. It\u2019s almost like a badge of honour. I certainly see that in Peckham where I live now.\u2019
\nThough living in Peckham she is no stranger to Lyme Bay. Her parents live in Lyme Regis and when she\u2019s not involved in exploring the boundaries of lyrical communion in London\u2019s subterranean East End, she can be found holed up in the relative peace of her parents\u2019 home where she can write, edit and breathe air shared more by seagulls than a cacophony of cultural envelope stretching.
\nDespite the prominence of her part in experimenting with words aloud, Kirsty is strangely reserved about her role in Children of the Midnight Sun. She is working towards an album that\u2019s a mixture of short stories, \u2018an attempt to find a balance between hip-hop and lyric\u2019 but is keen to point to the importance of Gil De Ray\u2019s role. \u2018I\u2019m just a poet\u2014where he\u2019s an artist in music.\u2019 If Gil brings music then Kirsty\u2019s poetry, writing, fashion design, DJing, publishing and infectious entrepreneurial initiative must count for a huge chunk of balance.
\nKirsty Allison and the Children of the Midnight Sun appear at the Lyric Theatre, Bridport on November 14th.
\nFor more information visit www.bridlitfringe.co.uk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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