Linton Kwesi Johnson

Liverpool's annual writing festival, WoWFest, is once again in full swing and tonight at the Black-E there was a particular treat in store for poetry lovers. A double-header featuring one of our most important poets of the last 50 years, the great Linton Kwesi Johnson, alongside one of our most exciting contemporary poets, Hollie McNish.

Hollie, a previous UK Slam Poetry Champion, kicked proceedings off with a wonderfully entertaining set of poems and anecdotes, drawing heavily on her most recent collection 'Nobody Told Me: The Poetry of Parenthood'. What a great performer she is! Here's one of the poems she performed tonight... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf-L0cdcKic

After a brief intermission, LKJ took to the stage and gave us an incredible set including poems and social history demonstrating his development as a poet and thinker from the '70s to the turn of the current century. I first became aware of him in 1978 when I heard 'Dread Beat An' Blood' http://en.musicplayon.com/play-touch?v=187812 played by a school friend. I remember it like it was yesterday!

I was lucky enough to speak to both poets and ask whether I could take pictures of them - and both, graciously, agreed. Which left me with a real dilemma about which to blip... In the end I've plumped for seniority over youth but it was a tough call!

(Not being able to add extra photos to my Blip journal from my iPad still really irritates me - and I don't have access to a functional PC when I'm not in the office - but I've just set up a new Flickr account to solve this problem! So you can see my picture of Hollie there https://www.flickr.com/photos/141747222@N06/sets/72157665710090933 should you care to!)

Given the poetic theme of today's blip, I feel I should draw your attention to local band She Drew the Gun and frontwoman Louisa Roach's amazing song, 'Poem'... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q15_m1XEdAI Great video too!