Poet Kathryn O’Driscoll launches her debut collection

Spoken word poet, writer and activist, UK Slam champion and World Slam finalist Kathryn O’Driscoll is launching her debut poetry collection, Cliff Notes, at regular poetry night Raise The Bar on February.

The collection was developed with Arts Council England funding, and mentoring from Rachel Long and Caroline Bird, for whom it exhibits “the alchemy of poetry: summoning colour from blankness, shapes from the void, and making life from the very things that threaten it”.

O’Driscoll’s preoccupations include the LGBTQIA+ experience, gender politics, disability, grief, mental illness, isolation and recovery, sexual abuse, function and dysfunction, reality and unreality, and the extent to which we are formed from our experiences.

She has featured on the TV Bafta-winning spoken word show Life and Rhymes (Sky Arts) as well as performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, and at regular national competitions – recently winning the UK slam competition with her poem A Letter to Parliament.

The launch event for Cliff Notes will feature O’Driscoll performing poems from the collection, as well as special guests Fay Roberts (from Cambridge) and local poets Cal Wensley, Raina Greifer, Tom Dewey, Sam Grudgings, and host Saili Katebe.

A few coveted open mic slots will be available in the first half of the evening for budding performance poets in attendance.

Catatonia

I slip through a quarantined city,
slow as a lidocained tongue into the hole of a pulled tooth.
A seagull squawks its warning
into the echo of deserted streets,
blusters up into the cloud cover, frightened of its own noises.
The aimless drift of kebab wrappers across cobblestones
makes the sound of a dry brush on canvas.

I cough outside a boutique.
Slack-jawed, I stare into my eyes reflected in my eyes
reflected in my eyes,
I blink and it’s tomorrow again.
A tree has dropped its skirt of scentless flowers to the floor.
Brazen nudity.

I find enough stumble in my feet to keep moving
but all the shop names are blurry,
vague estimations of shape
except the glass door of a quaint café
that I try to read the menu through.
Longing. Longing. Longing. In every size.
I am already full of that.

Spinning slow in the noose-slip silence,
arms wide enough to hold a city in a loving chokehold.
Inhale an empty city’s crisp air.
Eyes shut, imagine falling
towards the punch into the pavement.
Is this something I should mention to my doctors?

I reopen my eyes and I am back
at the bottom of the silent market street
The seagull pitches into the sky with a shared scream.
I bite my tongue so hard,
my mouth fills with freshly minted pennies

and I lie amid the parking tickets and mulch.
Watch the seasons drip off the façade of the Hippodrome.

Cover of Cliff Notes, debut poetry collection from Kathryn O’Driscoll

Bristol 24/7 asked O’Driscoll to share one of the poems from her collection, as well as illuminating her thoughts as the launch of Cliff Notes approaches:

How are you feeling about the publication of your debut collection?

“Having dreamed of this moment since I was about 10 years old, I’m really excited to be publishing my debut collection with Verve Poetry Press. The fact that I’ll be able to go into the Waterstones in the Galleries and pick up my own book is beyond belief.

“I am also so proud and humbled that I get to launch this book with Raise the Bar, an absolute pillar of spoken word in the UK, but also the people who gave me some of the biggest milestones of my early career.

“I am proud to be a Bristol Slam Champion, to have represented Bristol at national competitions, and will always consider Bristol to be my poetry home.”

Kathryn O’Driscoll – photo: courtesy of Kathryn O’Driscoll

Could you give us a flavour of the poems from Cliff Notes?

“My collection talks primarily about mental health and disability, and the way that recovery comes in waves rather than taking a linear route. It also includes pages of my intrusive thoughts, to expose the reality of living with those to more people.

“I really wanted this collection to be more than a series of poems, and to actually show the world more of what living with severe mental illness is like (for me). For example, Catatonia (shared above) is a poem about mental health told through the journey of walking up Corn Street, Wine Street and past Castle Park in Bristol.

“Cliff Notes has a mix of spoken word poems that people might know from seeing me perform, and page poems which move a little slower and more carefully. It has been unbelievable to have the opportunity to polish my work and the book has evolved so far from the manuscript that I started with.

“I have loved working with Caroline Bird and developing this collection under her amazing mentorship, with funding from Arts Council England. As someone who grew up below the poverty line, I couldn’t have had access to her time that funding, and it has really made all the difference.”

Photo: courtesy of Kathryn O’Driscoll

What can people expect from the launch night?

“Aside from myself, the launch will have an open mic to showcase a real variety of Bristol talent, then featured performances from local talents Sam J Grudgings, Tom Dewey, Raina Greifer and Cal Wensley – all of whom have been major parts of my journey of finding my feet in a performing arts as someone with a severe anxiety disorder.

“Then we will have a performance from Cambridge’s Fay Roberts, who has been one of my biggest supports in the scene and who has zir own book coming out from Bristol’s own Burning Eye books in the next few months (which will be called Spectrum). Finally, I will share some poems from the book and be generally available to sign and sell.”

Finally, what are your thoughts on the Bristol poetry scene in general?

“I love the Bristol scene, and I hope that now we can start to have more events in person. Milk Poetry returns this month and I am hoping that’s the next step in us all refinding our footing as a community – something we all desperately need.

“I’ve been shielding for the past two years to protect my vulnerable partner, so I can’t believe that I finally get to return to an in person event and that, extra excitingly – it’s to celebrate my own book.”

Raise the Bar: Kathryn O’Driscoll book launch + Open Mic is at The Station, Silver St, Bristol, BS1 2AG on February 8 at 7pm. Tickets are available from www.headfirstbristol.co.uk. Cliff Notes by Kathryn O’Driscoll is available to preorder now.

Main photo: courtesy of Kathryn O’Driscoll

Read more: Review: Raise the Bar at Reignite Festival

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