[A]s part of this year’s National Poetry Day on September 28th, 12 poets, including spoken word artist Hollie McNish and Forward Prize-winner Liz Berry, have written specially commissioned poems featuring distinctive local words that have been suggested by listeners to BBC local radio stations.
The Free the Word project takes its cue from National Poetry Day’s 2017 theme – freedom. A partnership between BBC English Regions, National Poetry Day and the Oxford English Dictionary, Free the Word has been searching for unrecorded words used in everyday speech in different locations across the country. The OED advised on the selection of the words which were chosen with help from their experts and the poet themselves. The new words will appear in future online updates of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Each of the poets has a link to the region they are writing for. For the North East and Cumbria region Kate Hale, 27, has written a poem called ‘Twining’ which features the word ‘to twine’ (meaning to complain). The poem will be featured as part of BBC Radio Cumbria’s coverage of National Poetry Day.
Born in Cumbria, where she currently lives, Katie’s debut pamphlet, Breaking the Surface, was published by Flipped Eye in 2017. She recently won the Jane Martin Poetry Prize and the Ware Poetry Prize, and was shortlisted for the Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize. Her poetry has been published in Poetry Review, The North and Interpreter’s House, among others. Katie also writes fiction, and is currently being mentored for her first novel, My Name is Monster, by Penguin Random House on their inaugural WriteNow scheme. Her musical, The Inevitable Quiet of the Crash, co-written with composer Stephen Hyde, will premier at Edinburgh Fringe in August 2017.
Additionally, a poem featuring all 12 words will be performed by 19-year-old poet and spoken word artist Isaiah Hull as part of a major new poetry and performance festival, Contains Strong Language. The festival, which takes place from September 28th to October 1st in Hull, is produced by the BBC in partnership with Hull UK City of Culture 2017, Hull City Council, Humber Mouth, The British Council, ACE, National Poetry Day and a number of poetry organisations.
Isaiah Hull will perform his poem live on the Jo Whiley show on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday evening. And the individual words will also be displayed at locations around the city – using templates created by Jackie Goodman, Associate Dean, Hull School of Art and Design, with a special spray paint visible only when it rains.
James Stewart, Editor of GNS Programmes for BBC English Regions, said: “We were inundated with suggestions of great local words from our listeners. The 12 chosen words have made fantastic poems by some of the country’s finest contemporary poets and they will generate much debate and discussion across BBC Local Radio. We’re also delighted that we’re building on the success of last year’s #BBCLocalpoets initiative with another rewarding partnership with National Poetry Day.”
Susannah Herbert, Director, National Poetry Day said: “I’m so delighted that National Poetry Day has brought the nation together by honouring words that are particular, different, distinctive, because when people start talking about their favourite words, they’re half way to poetry. Free The Word has unlocked the poems latent in our language: it’s a national celebration of the phrase we use among friends, neighbours, family, at home and in our streets. First the BBC’s listeners liberated dimpsy and cheeselog, ginnel, twitten and fam, then Oxford’s lexicographers found them each a pedigree – and today, on National Poetry Day, the poets make them into memorable art and give them back to us, enriched.”
Eleanor Maier, Associate Editor, Oxford English Dictionary, said: “The OED’s editors were delighted to be a part of this event. Thanks to the knowledge of BBC listeners across England, the dictionary’s knowledge and coverage of local words is much enriched. The words we have added (or will add shortly) include not just those chosen by the 12 poets, but a number of others including ‘goke’ (an apple core), ‘yampy’ (daft), ‘jasper’ (a wasp), and ‘croggy’ (a lift on someone’s bike).’
National Poetry Day, the annual mass celebration of poetry and all things poetical, takes place on Thursday 28 September 2017.
