Making the everyday extraordinary

As the city marks 25 years of the Peterborough Poet Laureate competition, Laura Fanthorpe spoke to some of the people who’ve held the title. What does winning mean for them, the city, and for its next generation of writers and performers?

Peterborough might have gained a reputation for many things, but one of its most intriguing has been for its acclaimed poetry scene, which continues to gain a groundswell of support. Pushing the boundaries of creative writing and performance, poetry in the city is flourishing.

The Peterborough Poet Laureate competition has been creating ambassadors for the city since 1998. It’s a role unlike any other. The laureates tell the tales of our region and are the markers of moments in time; mirroring the mood of Peterborough and its people, and bringing the power of poetry to the masses.

Charley Genever

Winning the title is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for keen wordsmiths. Looking back through past champions feels like perusing a roll call of some of the city’s most well-known creatives. One previous winner likens being named laureate to being a “Doctor Who or James Bond”. Once you’ve been named a laureate, you will always be a keeper of the region’s words and stories.

Previous laureates include Toby Wood, Mark Grist, Keely Mills, Malika Speaks, Charley Genever, Clare Currie, Mixxy, Kat Beeton, Pete Cox and more. Latest to join the roster is Lauren Kendrick, who won the title in December 2023.

Recognising unique talents and untapped potential, the competition aims to award poets with the honorary title for one year each. During this time, they undertake a unique role in their local community. No two laureate’s reigns have ever been the same. Every person has done different things with the title – whether it’s setting up new poetry nights, putting on performances, running workshops in schools, or supporting the growth of new artists. The opportunities are endless.

Syntax Poetry Collective

The competition hasn’t always been smooth sailing, particularly when the pandemic years toppled the world of live performance. But when the Poet Laureate position was under threat of dying out, it was saved by what became the Syntax Poetry Collective; described as the ‘poetry lungs’ of the city. This group of writers and performers has the ambitious aim of celebrating and raising the profile of Peterborough poetry.

So what does the Poet Laureate do? Firstly, it’s a voluntary role, with no set expectations. The application criteria are pretty wide-ranging, so you don’t need to have had any training, qualifications or previous poetry successes. The main thing is that you live in the city, are over 18, and care about the impact poetry can have on Peterborough.

Kat Beeton, Toby Wood, Keely Mills, Pete Cox, Malika Speaks

Throughout the year, the laureate works with Syntax to make poetry part of the life of the city, often through chronicling special events or by being commissioned to write poems by partners. The Syntax chairperson, Keely Mills, explains: “It’s important to have a Poet Laureate because we’ve had one for 25 years. And I think it’s especially important, in a city that’s considered to have low literacy, to have an ambassador that focuses on words and the speaking of words.”

Keely continues, “Don’t be put off by thinking that poetry’s not for you. Poetry is everywhere and it’s in everything – from our songs to our sympathy cards.
I would say to people that they should come along to events and watch it, or come and perform it yourself, or come and write it. And know that there’ll be people there ready to support you.”

Discover more

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Peterborough Poet Laureate position, Syntax has commissioned a special film podcast of five former laureates in conversation, sharing stories and experiences. The film will be launched in spring 2024. www.facebook.com/syntaxpoetryfestival
syntaxpoetryfestival.wordpress.com

Meet the Peterborough Poets

Charley Genever – Photo by Dan Weill Photography

CHARLEY GENEVER – Poet Laureate 2016

What was it about the competition that appealed?
It’s such a great role because each poet makes it their own. There aren’t any set parameters, so I was really excited by the potential. When I entered, I was on a training programme for young creatives. I was 24 when I won, and I was bragging for ages thinking I was the youngest Peterborough Poet Laureate ever. Then I found out very recently that Mixxy was 23 when he got it! But still, as a young creative, I wanted to offer an alternative to how poetry is received, particularly in schools.

How did you feel when you discovered you’d won the title?
I was completely overjoyed. It was a proper whirlwind. I remember I had a meeting the next day; we did the introductions and I was really bashful about it. It definitely is a very empowering role in that it gives you the kudos and the validation to do the things that you have in your head, that previously you didn’t feel quite so confident you could achieve.

Did you feel that it improved your writing?
Yeah, definitely. Because you get opportunities that you maybe wouldn’t write about in your own personal practice. And particularly for me, again, working with younger people or working at public events that are family-friendly forced me to write about things that I could then perform in that context. It gave me that extra confidence to apply to the Arts Council for funding to put on Freak Speak, which was a quarterly poetry event that ran for a few years.

What was your favourite memory or moment from the time you were laureate?
Oh, I think probably the most unique experience was when I was invited to judge the Miss Peterborough competition. None of the other laureates have done that. I was expecting it to be very stereotypical, but it was actually much more inclusive and welcoming than that.

What do you think poetry does for Peterborough?
It gives people a voice and it cultivates a community. Also, I think it’s not just true of me, but many people can’t always say what they want to say unless it’s in a poem. It can be a really powerful tool to figure stuff out, or to say things about yourself and the world.

Toby Wood

TOBY WOOD – Poet Laureate 1998

Can you explain the origins of the Peterborough Poet Laureate competition?
It was started in 1998 by Peterborough City Council, who recognised that there had been a successful performance scene in Peterborough for at least 10 years. The Gaslight Club was an alternative comedy club in Peterborough in the 1980s and early 90s. It was really ground-breaking and featured a number of nationally renowned poets. I was one of the comperes and used to do performance poetry. Towards the end of the Gaslight’s time the council set up the Poet Laureate competition, to try and build on the popularity of performance poetry, and I entered that first competition. Surprisingly, I won with something called Infant School Hymn.

How did it feel when you won the title?
I was absolutely thrilled because, you know, I describe the stuff that I do as like cheese and onion crisps in as much as you wouldn’t live on them, but they’re quite pleasant for the moment. Well, that’s the story of my life!

Has winning given you lots of opportunities?
I had duties at various civic functions. I remember going to the mayor’s sausage supper and reading something and it was thought of as quite novel and innovative. One of the huge advantages is that when you read a poem out loud, it doesn’t last very long. Therefore, they can fit into all sorts of events. At the time I was a primary school headteacher, and I was doing lots of assemblies for children, which in itself is a performance. I like writing, I like words, but I love the context of performance. So, putting it very crudely, doing something for adults in the evening meant that I could be a bit more wide-ranging and use naughty words, and then I was doing assembly in the day, so I was very careful not to get the two mixed up!

Is the poetry scene in Peterborough still thriving?
Oh gosh, yes. The lovely thing about it is it’s really varied. There are lots of feminist performers and there are lots of multicultural performers now. It gives a voice to people from a variety of backgrounds.

Why does poetry matter to you?
Poetry matters because it’s a fun way of using words. You can use a few words. You can use many words. You can use words in any particular way you like. And – as I often say to children when I’m teaching in schools – with poetry there’s no right and there’s no wrong because it’s what you feel and how you want to express yourself.

Keely Mills

KEELY MILLS – Poet Laureate 2009

How did you feel when you won the title?
Oh, very overwhelmed, privileged and humbled. Because the thing is, it’s not just about you. It’s about what you represent and who you represent, which essentially is Peterborough.

What can poetry do for Peterborough?
It can tell really good stories about the city that aren’t just about the big things, which might get lost or overlooked for other things that might be more salacious or exciting. Sometimes people from outside Peterborough can look down on it. They have a misconception or a view of it given to them by someone else. Yet I know that we’re considered to be a really exciting place for poetry. And it’s almost like a time capsule as well, in that poetry is a way of capturing a different time. I think that’s wonderful.

What does poetry mean to you?
It means telling the story of everyday people and everyday situations that are magic, that are often not exalted in any way. I think for me, it’s a way to capture stories of those people around me that might not be with me in the future. It’s about telling the story of the everyday and how extraordinary that can be.

What opportunities did winning the title give you?
It’s a bit like you’re Doctor Who or James Bond, you’re always the laureate. It’s opened up loads of opportunities. I was commissioned to write poems that I never would have been asked to write otherwise. It’s helped me to just start conversations with someone at a bus stop. You know, because someone will go, ‘Oh, are you that poet?’ From that, you create connections and networks.

What were your biggest achievements during your time as Poet Laureate?
I don’t want to get too emotional, but the year I was made laureate was the year that we opened up the John Clare Cottage in Helpston. I got to perform alongside Benjamin Zephaniah. That’s one of the real highlights, to honour someone like John Clare, who for me
is like a working-class lad and I’m a working-class girl, and then also to meet someone like Benjamin – it was amazing.

Kat Beeton – Photo by Lauren Irving-Cooper

KAT BEETON – Poet Laureate 2022-2023

What made you decide to enter the competition in the first place?
Hubris at 3am! I’d just started writing again, and I hadn’t performed in a long time. I was asked to read my work at the opening of a literary journal with Charley Genever and Malika (who was the Poet Laureate at the time). They were really encouraging about my work and Charley said I should apply for Poet Laureate. I laughed it off. But then I went, oh, right then. And I wrote something and just sent it. It was kind of a leap and a spur- of-the-moment thing.

How did winning the title make you feel?
Lots of things. I never thought that I would actually get it, because I hadn’t performed in a long time, and I’d only recently been writing poetry again. So it was a bit of a shock. Then it sunk in that, with what I wanted to do with the role, it was going to be a responsibility as well.

Do you feel that winning the title helped improve your work as a poet?
I think so because I was hyper-focused on working as a poet throughout that time. It gave me an opportunity to really concentrate on poetry and explore that medium and genre. And I’m glad that I’m finished now as well, because I really did welcome that opportunity to inhabit that space and explore myself as a poet, but it’s not the only part of me.

What were your biggest achievements during your time as laureate?
Bringing the city’s existing poetry and arts culture to more people and making it accessible. Throughout my time, I was focused on providing access to people who wouldn’t have it necessarily any other way, particularly socio-economically disadvantaged people. I didn’t charge communities and schools for visits and workshops. Just seeing people who didn’t think that poetry was for them then change and blossom was amazing.

Would you encourage other people to enter the competition in the future?
Absolutely. It’s a really great opportunity to excel and live in the moment and to celebrate where you are. It gives people a bigger platform and a louder voice and to be able to do what they love.

Lauren Kendrick

LAUREN KENDRICK – Poet Laureate 2024

What made you want to enter the competition in the first place?
I’ve sat in the background for a few years and just seen how important it’s been for a poet’s progression. It’s quite a developmental role, and I’ve watched different poets grow, and I thought that actually, this is a time where I could both give my time to develop and also wanted to – it felt like a good part of my poet’s trajectory.

What was the atmosphere like on the night you won?
It’s like a fire really, burning brightly. It’s a real reflection of how alive the scene is in the city. Both those who are up-and-coming and for those who are already established. In December, many previous laureates were in the room, and it was an incredible atmosphere. It felt like a real coming together of the community.

How did you feel when you heard that you’d won?
Really shocked. Quite overwhelmed. It’s such a high bar, and I think I was incredibly nervous before performing. I was very emotional reading my competition piece again, I cried the whole way through it. People said, ‘Don’t forget this emotion that you’re feeling right now.’

What opportunities are you looking for this year?
I’m really open actually. I think to explore that connection between land, food and how words have an amazing power, and sharing knowledge through that. I want to take people on a journey with me. Any link to food and poetry and how we can have a feast, physically and soulfully.

Why do you think it’s important to have this position in Peterborough?
It’s a great platform to show what’s happening and to develop what’s going on in the city. And I think those connections and seeing how previous laureates work with each other and support the scene, as well as the community at large, is important. I suppose that I will probably be able to answer this question a bit better by the end of the year!

Peterborough Legend – By Lauren Kendrick