The Poetry of Walls: Inside Out at the Southbank Centre

Ian McMillan introduces new poetry that takes its cue from the limestone, fossils and concrete of the walls of London's Southbank Centre, in a celebration of all kinds of poetry walls, real and digital. His guests are the poets Chris McCabe, Anthony Anaxagorou, Joelle Taylor and Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa.

Chris McCabe is a poet and the joint librarian of the National Poetry Library (based at the Southbank Centre). He performs a new commission for The Verb - inspired by the fossils ('scavengers and predators') in the limestone at the Royal Festival Hall. Chris has just edited 'Instagram Poetry for Every Day' and his poetry collections include 'The Triumph of Cancer' ( Penned in the Margins). Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa is a dancer and poet. In 2019 she became the first person to win the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Slam Championships, become a BBC 1 Extra & Asian Network Talent Search finalist and the Hammer and Tongue UK Poetry Slam Champion in the same year. Safiya has been thinking about walls and their multiple meanings during the pandemic. She performs a poem called "Plastered Heart, August". Her poetry is to be published by Out-Spoken Press. Anthony Anaxagorou is the founder of Out-Spoken – which encompasses poetry and performance nights and a press. Out-Spoken has partnered with the Southbank Centre, breaking down barriers between poets, genres, and sharing the work of marginalised groups. Anthony’s poetry collection ‘After the Formalities’ ( Penned in the Margins) was nominated for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Joelle Taylor is an award-winning author, performer and poet, and the founder of Slambassadors – her latest collection is “Songs My Enemy Taught Me” (Out-Spoken Press). She is also an editor for Out-Spoken.

This episode is part of the programming for BBC Radio 3's residency at London's Southbank Centre.