Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

This CD features rap music, poems, monologues and excerpt from plays written and composed by young residents of Hackney, South London. The project, a result of several workshops, was conceived by the Free Form Arts Trust and financially supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The young Hackney residents were encouraged to research their roots in various archives and express their ‘hopes, dreams, fears, determination, anger, love, memories and ... Hackney’s diverse heritage’ in creative writing. This may sound slightly too ambitious and I was dreading lyrics heavy with teenage angst and self-centred confessionalism, but the result is fresh, moving and entertaining. The blend of music and the spoken word works well, the enjoyment of the artists involved is obvious and there are some lines of poetic beauty, such as in ‘Fearless yet aimless’ and ‘Red Roses’. The album has a very urban feel, the emotions evoked are those of longing and belonging, the constant search for roots or new roots, as the title suggests. The Artistic director Gemma ‘Misfit’ Weekes stands out as a performer as well as a co-producer and is backed up by Nolan Weekes, Geraldine Alleyne Vaughan and other talented performers. The CD will be distributed as a heritage resource in schools, which will no doubt encourage other young people to express themselves in poetry and music. My only criticism is that the lyrics have not been included in the CD booklet. The CD is available from Free Form by emailing [email protected]. It doesn’t seem to be listed on any of the major online music retailers in the UK yet.  (AL)