POETS OF CAMBRIDGE
ELISABETH SENNITT CLOUGH On the edges of Cambridge and outside the university’s domain, a fierce poetry scene is brewing. By spearheading the Fenland Arts Development Scheme and the Fenland
passion kindled by creative writing tutor Caron Freeborn at the Open University. “It was the proverbial door opening,” Elisabeth says. “I don’t think poetry is healing, otherwise all the poets would be healed, but there is a kind of therapy in finding something where you can express yourself.” Running through her poems are darker undercurrents, stoked by the rain-lashed landscapes of the Fens. “I do feel sometimes I’m excavating myself to write a poem that isn’t flat,” says Elisabeth. “Poetry’s duty is to expose what a lot of people either don’t know about or don’t want to confront.” At the fore of Elisabeth’s initiatives – including the Fenland Poet Laureate scheme – is supporting under-recognised communities. “There are places that are very marginalised in terms of funding and opportunity,” she explains. “It’s about developing a visible community.”
Poetry Journal , Saboteur award-winner Elisabeth Sennitt Clough is right at the epicentre of a community shaped by the Fens and fields. “I first started writing about the Fens when I was thousands of miles away, living in California on the West Coast,” laughs Elisabeth. “When I was growing up, I wanted to get out of the Fens so desperately.”
MEGAN BEECH A young spoken-word artist who first slammed onto the scene in 2011, Megan Beech Having worked in the likes of Indonesia, Florida and the Netherlands, Elisabeth’s roots have remained firm. “Because the Fens are such a sparse environment, it’s really easy as a poet to enter it imaginatively,” she explains. The writer of Sightings , The Cold Store and the upcoming gothic Fen collection My Name is Abilene first had her
Vavengers. “Spoken word breaks down these hierarchies or theocracies we have in the traditional publishing world,” Megan continues. “It’s a great equaliser to talk about things that need to be discussed. I find that I get those points of view across to people who maybe aren’t expecting to hear those things.” Fostered by Clive Birnie at Burning Eye Books when the press came into being, much has changed on the slam poetry scene. “Compared to five years ago, when my last book came out, the possibilities for what we call a performance poet are completely different,” Megan says. “That’s been through the hard work of small presses.” This hiatus was while Megan undertook a PhD on Charles Dickens at Cambridge. She points to other spoken word poets, whose careers have been multifarious: viral poet Vanessa Kisuule, Kae Tempest and even Michaela Coel and Jack Rooke. Freedom is what, for her, spoken word enables: “I don’t want to judge myself too much by the criteria of the snobbery that says, poetry isn’t allowed to rhyme or be about women’s bodies.”
has been garlanded with praise from the likes of Mary Beard (the title of Megan’s first 2013 collection is in tribute to the classicist), Lauren Laverne and Laura Bates, proclaimed a feminist icon by the Evening Standard and The Guardian and appeared on the BBC and Sky. Megan’s journey began when she won a competition judged by Philip Pullman, aged just 11. “I did music for a while and was very mediocre,” Megan laughs. “But I was interested in that dynamic of how you can transform an audience just with the words you say.” She counts Billy Bragg, with his combination of political railing and music, among her influences. “For someone who struggled a lot when I was younger with anxiety, depression and not being able to express myself, there seemed something quite vital about that medium and the immediacy of it.” For Megan, slam poetry is the perfect vessel to vocalise women’s causes, performing frequently for an anti-FGM charity called The
30 OCTOBER 2022 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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