First published in New Straits Times, Sunday People
8 December 2007
Spinning poetry
MAX KOH
Charlie Dark is his name, poetry is his game, and MAX KOH takes stock of this Brit’s mettle
Slammin’ poets (from left)Charlie Dark, Div, Liyana and Priya
IN a room full of students and expatriates, Charlie Dark spews out words sounding like a rapid-firing machine gun.
Everyone is listening intently. His voice is lyrical. His deliverance is arresting.
He easily conjures images of growing up in East London in the 90s, embellishing his words with a sense of wit and prose.
Deejay, producer, writer, and teacher, Dark at the Singapore Writers Festival was also the Renaissance man of the new millennium, who continually inspires young people all over the world to perform poetry for an audience.
The 38-year-old poet will soon perform in Kuala Lumpur, under the aegis of the British Council.
“In London, the poetry scene has come to the stage where people will start throwing heaps of praise on a poet even though the poet has just written three or four poems.
“When praise is thrown around too easily, the poet becomes lazy.
“Here,” says Dark, “people really have to work hard to build a scene. And by the time (the scene) is thriving, the poets would have nurtured themselves pretty well to take over,” said the father of two. “And that’s going to be mind-blowing.”
Four Malaysians — Diyva K.M. Jiwa, Liyana Yusof, Priya K (who won the British Council’s Wayang Kata IV) and Jerome Kugan — performed at the recent festival and attended Dark’s workshop.
Says Dark: “I really do think than the Malaysian poets can whack off stage those so-called top poets in the UK now. The standard of writing here is better.
“I supposed I’m just disillusioned with the whole scene in UK. The poetry scene in the UK and US are done, so to speak. Europe is not popping. But here, things are really booming. I guess I’m excited because it reminds me of the time when it started in the UK, in 1991.”
That’s when Dark booked a flight to New York because of the thriving poetry scene in that city. All of 21, he worked as a hairdresser’s assistant to save enough money for that trip.
“I realised that poetry could exist beyond the written word. So I came back to Britain, got in touch with some friends, and we used this old art gallery in Brixton to host our first few events. Mum would make food, and we would have DJs and rappers perform in between poetry readings.” The event gave rise to the Urban Poet’s Society.
Dark’s love with poetry began when he was 13. “I received a scholarship to attend a traditional English public school and I was one of the only three black kids in the school of 1,000 children. I was very unhappy.
“Then, this teacher gave me a notebook and a pen and told me to write whatever I felt. She told me that my pen was my weapon. One day, a bully came up to me and I read what I had written, ‘Touch me, and I would crush you like how the giants crush the mountains.’
“He stopped bullying me. That’s the power of the written word.”
From then, Dark fills volumes with poetry. He wrote about his first kiss to even the fried rice he’s eating at the time of this interview.
“Wow! I never tasted anything like this before,” exclaims Dark before proceeding to take a picture of the ubiquitous local dish with his camera-phone.
“I must show this to my mates back in UK. They often don’t understand when I go on and on about food,” says Dark.
So, are you going to write a poem about nasi goreng? “Of course, I will. Expect me to perform it today,” he replies.
Dark’s key to captivating his audience is establishing a connection with the audience from the start.
“I use a lot of humour in my work. I try to connect with the audience right away. I guess, what really works is that I tell every day stories to which the audience can relate. A lot of reminiscing goes on in my performance. ”
As good as Dark is, he is unfazed by his talent. “It’s not rocket science. Why pretend that it’s hard to do? The reason I perform poetry is to tell them that the average man has a story to tell, and that the story is interesting and important. And that like me, he can do it well.”
* Catch Charlie Dark with Priya, Liyana, and Singaporeans Bani Haykal and Ng Yi Sheng in Wayang Kata V at 8.30pm tonight, at No Black Tie (Jalan Mesui off Jalan Nagasari, Kuala Lumpur). Admission: RM10.
Slammin’ poets (from left)Charlie Dark, Div, Liyana and Priya
IN a room full of students and expatriates, Charlie Dark spews out words sounding like a rapid-firing machine gun.
Everyone is listening intently. His voice is lyrical. His deliverance is arresting.
He easily conjures images of growing up in East London in the 90s, embellishing his words with a sense of wit and prose.
Deejay, producer, writer, and teacher, Dark at the Singapore Writers Festival was also the Renaissance man of the new millennium, who continually inspires young people all over the world to perform poetry for an audience.
The 38-year-old poet will soon perform in Kuala Lumpur, under the aegis of the British Council.
“In London, the poetry scene has come to the stage where people will start throwing heaps of praise on a poet even though the poet has just written three or four poems.
“When praise is thrown around too easily, the poet becomes lazy.
“Here,” says Dark, “people really have to work hard to build a scene. And by the time (the scene) is thriving, the poets would have nurtured themselves pretty well to take over,” said the father of two. “And that’s going to be mind-blowing.”
Four Malaysians — Diyva K.M. Jiwa, Liyana Yusof, Priya K (who won the British Council’s Wayang Kata IV) and Jerome Kugan — performed at the recent festival and attended Dark’s workshop.
Says Dark: “I really do think than the Malaysian poets can whack off stage those so-called top poets in the UK now. The standard of writing here is better.
“I supposed I’m just disillusioned with the whole scene in UK. The poetry scene in the UK and US are done, so to speak. Europe is not popping. But here, things are really booming. I guess I’m excited because it reminds me of the time when it started in the UK, in 1991.”
That’s when Dark booked a flight to New York because of the thriving poetry scene in that city. All of 21, he worked as a hairdresser’s assistant to save enough money for that trip.
“I realised that poetry could exist beyond the written word. So I came back to Britain, got in touch with some friends, and we used this old art gallery in Brixton to host our first few events. Mum would make food, and we would have DJs and rappers perform in between poetry readings.” The event gave rise to the Urban Poet’s Society.
Dark’s love with poetry began when he was 13. “I received a scholarship to attend a traditional English public school and I was one of the only three black kids in the school of 1,000 children. I was very unhappy.
“Then, this teacher gave me a notebook and a pen and told me to write whatever I felt. She told me that my pen was my weapon. One day, a bully came up to me and I read what I had written, ‘Touch me, and I would crush you like how the giants crush the mountains.’
“He stopped bullying me. That’s the power of the written word.”
From then, Dark fills volumes with poetry. He wrote about his first kiss to even the fried rice he’s eating at the time of this interview.
“Wow! I never tasted anything like this before,” exclaims Dark before proceeding to take a picture of the ubiquitous local dish with his camera-phone.
“I must show this to my mates back in UK. They often don’t understand when I go on and on about food,” says Dark.
So, are you going to write a poem about nasi goreng? “Of course, I will. Expect me to perform it today,” he replies.
Dark’s key to captivating his audience is establishing a connection with the audience from the start.
“I use a lot of humour in my work. I try to connect with the audience right away. I guess, what really works is that I tell every day stories to which the audience can relate. A lot of reminiscing goes on in my performance. ”
As good as Dark is, he is unfazed by his talent. “It’s not rocket science. Why pretend that it’s hard to do? The reason I perform poetry is to tell them that the average man has a story to tell, and that the story is interesting and important. And that like me, he can do it well.”
* Catch Charlie Dark with Priya, Liyana, and Singaporeans Bani Haykal and Ng Yi Sheng in Wayang Kata V at 8.30pm tonight, at No Black Tie (Jalan Mesui off Jalan Nagasari, Kuala Lumpur). Admission: RM10.
1 comments:
Printed in Dec 08?! I didn't know you can tell the future... :P
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