Jerome Rothenberg

. . All poems are copyright of the poet. Permission for this poet to post their work here has been granted by blog owner. All rights remain with the individual poet and their respective publisher.

Hannah Lowe

. . All poems are copyright of the poet. Permission for this poet to post their work here has been granted by blog owner. All rights remain with the individual poet and their respective publisher.

Aram Saroyan

. . All poems are copyright of the poet. Permission for this poet to post their work here has been granted by blog owner. All rights remain with the individual poet and their respective publisher.

Neil Davidson & Thomas Betteridge

. . All poems are copyright of the poet. Permission for this poet to post their work here has been granted by blog owner. All rights remain with the individual poet and their respective publisher.

2018 - Done and Dusted - Happy New Year

There it was gone. 2018. Would you believe this blog site celebrated it's tenth anniversary sometime last year? I couldn't tell you when exactly but I think around August. Ten years ago 'Something For The Weekend, Sir?' had its focus elsewhere. It wasn't a site dedicated to the spoken word then but a team blog which featured the talents of Roger Stevens and Michael Leigh. There were others including me. Back then it was all about nostalgia. Little post's about the things we'd liked when growing up. The Monkees, Ivor Cutler, Roger McGough and so on. Then, on June 3rd 2014, I posted a piece about the demise and rise of poetry. I didn't really think poetry was ailing or terminally ill but I did want to turn this site into something other than what it had been. I ploughed ahead but shouldn't have. Why? When you are part of a team site the other members of the team should have a say. I didn't even ask which I greatly regret. Both Roger and Michael are two talented individuals but also generous.

Throughout 2014 there was an assortment of poets who posted spoken word poetry of the highest calibre. Lorna Wood, Charlotte Rogers, Roger Stevens, Doriandra Smith, Russell Ragsdale and oodles more. It was a very impressive year, unexpectedly good but sadly not bound to last. On the 31st December 2015 I wrote this in frustration as I had been unable to find, therefore continue, the blog in the way I wanted...

. ...This site is closed. Apparently my views on poetry being spoken not just read appeals to far too few.  

"Spoken word poetry is the art of performance poetry. I tell people it involves creating poetry that doesn't just want to sit on paper, that something about it demands it be heard out loud or witnessed in person." - Sarah Kay

For the following year, all of 2016, there wasn't a single post. Not one post featuring spoken word. Then, almost one year to the day, I started 'nicking' spoken word poetry off YouTube. I figured no one would mind. I hope I was right. Throughout 2017 and 2018, 'Something For The Weekend,  Sir?' has featured posts full of established poets. Two years of the best by some of the best. That is all fine and dandy and I will continue to pursue that course BUT, I would really like to have, having made my point about spoken word, the relay of poets that was so successful in 2015. For poetry, be it written or oral, has to be progressive. If not of itself or by itself but by the very act of going where it hasn't been before. It is the same with any art. It needs to challenge itself, to seek new ways to present itself even if the presentation includes work that is traditional but the method of presenting the art is new. 

I will try again. Lord knows if I'll succeed or not but I'll have a go. Anyway, I thought a 'facelift' might be in order, no, not mine although you may have a point  - 'Something For The Weekend, Sir?' Hope you like it. Happy New Year to one and all. Have a great 2019 we certainly shall try to here.

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All poems are copyright of the poet. Permission for this poet to post their work here has been granted by blog owner. All rights remain with the individual poet and their respective publisher.