I will certainly be there at the Voice Box to hear Tony Lopez and Stephen
Rodefer on 11 June. One shouldn't assume, btw, that the avant-garde
routinely draws small audiences. A coupla years ago I had the misfortune to
be turned away with "house full" notices at the Voice Box for a Maggie
O'Sullivan / Geraldine Monk gig. (Though it has to be said it was during a
short period when the Paladin anthology The New British Poetry was on one A
level syllabus - about two thirds of the way through the reading a whole
group of young persons sitting together, shepherded by their teacher, got
up and left to catch the last train back to wherever they came from!)
I'm glad to say Maggie smuggled me, as her publisher, past the jobsworth
attendants into that reading.
By contrast, I've been to gigs at the VB and elsewhere where relatively
high-profile, maindrainish poets have failed miserably to fill the room.
Ho-hum.
I know you want to downplay the "establishment/avant garde" thing, John,
but it was one of the VB organisers who once told me there were two sorts
of poetry in this country: "poetry" and "Cambridge poetry" and that their
respective audiences did not attend each other's readings! (Of course, I
belong to neither camp.)
One last thing: I know Simon Smith is a friendly presence at the South
Bank, but I'm not sure how much influence he has on VB programming.
However, right now I feel optimistic that things are changing and that we
are beginning to experience a more inclusive and diverse approach from
funding bodies and controllers of public spaces than we have seen for
decades.
K
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