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Newcastle-based
poet Scott Tyrrell wins BBC Poetry Slam
South
Shields-born Scott Tyrrell, a Stand-Up Poet and Graphic Designer, has just won
the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Poetry
Slam Grand Final. The BBC Slam is now the most
diverse and most coveted Poetry Slam in the UK, with the widest
national and regional representation of UK Poetry.
This
year alone the competition featured a World champion, a European champion, 7
national champions and the Roundhouse champion. The competition has been
running over the festival in a series of heats to decide which poets would make
the final four competitors, who battled it out on Saturday night in a packed BBC Festival tent. The event
was streamed live on BBC Arts via the iPlayer.
The Final featured excellent established performance poets Dan Simpson, Paula
Varjack, Toby Campion and of course, Scott Tyrrell. The event was put together
by Spoken Word artist and Slam host, Sophia Walker – herself a previous BBC Slam winner.
The
Grand Final featured three rounds; in the first each poet had just 3 minutes to
wow the judges (who comprised of five esteemed figures from the UK Spoken Word
and poetry publishing scene). The judges scored the poets from 0-10 on
performance, writing and audience response. In the second round the lowest
scoring poet was dropped and the three remaining poets battled it out again,
with another 3 minute poem. In the final round Scott and Toby Campion went head
to head.
It
was close but Scott pipped it by just 0.3 of a point.
Scott
is multiple poetry slam winner, award-winning comedian and graphic designer. He
has been writing and performing poetry for 15 years and was a founding member
of the legendary Tyneside poetry troupe, the Poetry Vandals. He has represented
Newcastle/Gateshead in three major national Poetry Slams and won. He lives and
works in Newcastle with his wife,
stepdaughter and son.
This
has been a great year for Scott - winning both The Great Northern Slam at
Northern Stage earlier in the year and the UK Anti-Slam Championship at The
Roundhouse in London. (The Anti-Slam is a
tongue-in-cheek national competition in which established spoken word artists
battle it out to be the worst poet in the UK). So Scott is now
technically one of the best and worst performance poets in Britain! Scott was also official
Blogger for the poetry tent at Glastonbury this year.
The
Full 2015 BBC Poetry Slam on BBC iPlayer:
The
UK Spoken Word scene has exploded over the last decade, with vibrant scenes
across the whole of the UK including Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Bristol, York and Newcastle, and is growing into a
formidable poetry scene. The likes of Kate Tempest (Mercury Prize winner) and
huge talents Hollie McNish, Dizraeli and Luke Wright and Kate Fox have been
among those leading the charge to establish Spoken Word as an art form that’s
here to stay in the UK.
Young
poets from all over Britain and Ireland are finding an outlet
for their talents as writers and performers, particularly in Slam competitions
– an idea which started in Chicago decades ago and has
become an international approach to inject real energy and competition into
what has been traditionally a very bookish art form. Anything to do with Spoken
Word goes with Slam. So comedy, rap, drama, beat poetry and storytelling are
all allowed - and encouraged - which is why slams nearly always feature a
diverse range of literary talent.
Slammers
are wanted for an event in Newcastle in November – see http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/news-great-northern-slam-slammers-wanted.html
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