Ep. 128 - Bridget Hart

“A lot of the ethos that I learned from the punk scene – D.I.Y politics, inclusivity, that kind of thing – I brought with me into Burning Eye Books” - Bridget Hart

This week Peter deGraft-Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) speaks to poet, editor, producer, publisher with Burning Eye Books, and Grease super-fan Bridget Hart. The pair start by discussing the ethos and success of Burning Eye as a leading independent poetry press in the UK, publishing spoken word artists, and Bridget shares a quick what-to-do (read the guidelines) and what-not-to-do (make transphobic jokes) when submitting. Bridget tells PJ about life as a poet in the DIY punk scene, touring in vans and playing house shows (ps - punks love Carly Rae Jepsen), and the value of emotional caretaking in the midst of the intensity of judging UniSlam - the UK's national university poetry slam & summit. Bridget also speaks about rediscovering a sense of freedom and joy in writing while working on their latest collection celebrating the campness, queerness, and playfulness we all know was the real star of the iconic teen classic Grease. (We don't speak about Grease 2 - who would?).

Bridget reads one poem -

41:12 - 1000 Bits Of Gum

Download a full transcript here: (COMING SOON)

Bridget's Links - 

http://bridgethart.wordpress.com

http://forbooksake.net

http://burningeye.co.uk/submit

PJ's Links - https://linktr.ee/repeatbeatpoet

https://twitter.com/repeatbeatpoet

https://www.instagram.com/repeatbeatpoet/

Read PJ's poem 'What Does Black Power Mean?' in the Black Anthology, Language, available to read via 1010 Press or your local independent bookshop or library:

www.sofiaamina.com/1010pressbookshop 

For more from Lunar: lunarpoetrypodcasts.com

www.facebook.com/LunarPoetryPodcasts

www.twitter.com/LunarPoetryPod

Buy the 'Why Poetry?': The Lunar Poetry Podcasts Anthology here: vervepoetrypress.com/product/why-poetry/

Episode music is an original composition by Snazzy Rat. You can find more from Snazzy here: snazzyrat.bandcamp.com

Our production team is Mystery Planet Productions. https://mysteryplanet.net/

Also mentioned on the podcast - 

Neon, by Bethany Rose. Published by Burning Eye Books. https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/neon-by-bethany-rose

Chips & Beans Podcast w/ Bridget & Cassie Agbenhu - https://www.instagram.com/chipsandbeanspodcast/ 

UniSlam - https://www.uni-slam.com/