WORDCUP 2010 regional final at ARC
WORDCUP2010 is the only nationwide live spoken word competition that celebrates new spoken word talent. In each of nine areas, some of Eng-er-land’s best spoken word performers, mentors, producers and poetry organisations will work with groups of local young people aged 13 to 16 to compose poems on the theme “I am free to write” to be performed in front of a panel of judges who will score them on writing and delivery.
The programme in the North East will culminate in a regional final at the Stockton’s ARC on 3 July, where 10 teams (each mentored by a different poet coach in the North East) will compete for the chance to represent their region at the WORDCUP Final in Manchester on the 10 July.
Coordinating the regional competition in the North East with Apples & Snakes is community interest company Radikal Words, an organisation headed by renowned performers Kate Fox, Alfie Crow and Jeff Price who deliver word projects in education and community settings. Jeff Price is already well known in the region for setting up the Poetry Vandals performance group, a 5-strong collective who started off spinning their words in some of Newcastle's toughest pubs. Kate Fox went from being a radio journalist for Galaxy to a Vandal to a vanguard of Radio 4, where she turns topical poems for 2 million listeners on Saturday Live every few weeks.
Radikal Words’s WORDCUP work takes them to a wide variety of youth groups in and around Newcastle, from the New Writing North Young Writers group to St. John’s High School Bishop Auckland and Excelsior Academy via engagement with a group of young women in Ashington who are outside of the school system for a variety of reasons, and including a large number of young mothers. This latter group is led by Nikki Hawkins, a dyslexic Poet Coach, who is also a single mother.
WORDCUP aims to inspire disadvantaged young people aged 13 to 16 to express themselves through live performance and collaborate in teams of eight to represent their collective identities and places of origin.
Key additional competition dates are:
Fri 9 July, 8pm The Manager’s Match hosted by Baba Israel
WORDCUP coaches from across the country show their teams how it’s done in this lyrical friendly, showcasing the best in UK performance poetry. Featuring guest slots from Young Identity, Leeds Young Authors, Slambassadors and the London teenage Poetry SLAM.
Sat 10 July, 7pm National Final hosted by Jacob Sam-La Rose
England’s finest young premiership poets go head to head in a poetical play-off that will have you on the edge of your seat. Nine regions, nine teams, one cup. A celebration of spoken word, following a day of workshops, mentoring sessions, exercises and showcases.
Apples & Snakes was established in 1982 and is now the national leading organisation for performance poetry. Their remit is to stretch the boundaries of poetry in performance and education, by inspiring participation and giving voice to a diverse range of dynamic poets.
