Out-Spoken: Southbank Centre - Review

Out-Spoken is a recurring event hosted at Southbank Centre each month, celebrating diversity in poetry, voice and performance. Joelle Taylor, a TS Elliot Prize-winning poet and the writer of C+nto, hosts the event. Originally held in The Purcell Room in Southbank from January to April, May’s event filled out the larger space of the Royal Elizabeth Hall with ease. Bringing together 5 performance artists and poets, along with a couple of special guests, Out-Spoken offered a night of incredible music and voice.

Image: Joelle Taylor, Out-Spoken May 2023. The Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, May 2023. Photo credit Arnaud Mbaki.

The night began with Joelle Taylor reading out an Adrienne Rich quote blessing the space. Perfectly encapsulating the event at Southbank Centre, a night at Out-Spoken can really be described in the same vein as Adrienne Rich: radical, queer, poetic, and moving. At times the audience was on the verge of tears. At other times, we were in fits of laughter (particularly as Travis Alabanza cracked jokes about their IBS). We were on our feet clapping for Kae Tempest and we were swaying along to the melodic voice of Mysie. Ultimately, Out-Spoken: May was a night of pure, radical joy, with a special place for queerness sprinkled throughout the acts.

Out-Spoken was established in 2015 by poet and Editor, Anthony Anaxagorou with the aim of providing a platform for under-represented voices in writing and poetry. The London-based poetry organisation is comprised of a publication, a yearly poetry prize, an event series at Southbank Centre, and an educational resource offering masterclasses, courses, and support to writers and poets in the beginning stages of their artistic careers.

The first act of Out-Spoken: May was multi-award-winning poet, Daljit Nagra. Setting the stage for the rest of the night, Nagra read out three poems from his collection. These poems were filled with wit and an edge of comedic timing that has become synonymous with Nagra’s style. Each poem carried a thick layer of thoughtfulness pointed towards power relationships and the complications of British and Indian identities. If you have the chance to see Nagra read from any of his poetry collection, take it!

A highlight of the night was when Joelle Taylor read one of their own poems. The poem was an ode to butch lesbians, written in memory of one of their friends. They had been tasked with writing a ‘protest poem,’ ultimately writing one of the most moving pieces of poetry I have ever heard live. Their words and conviction were a token to the queer family that surrounded them that night, both in the audience and on stage.

Image: Mysie, Out-Spoken May 2023. The Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, May 2023. Photo credit Arnaud Mbaki.

Out-Spoken: May was a multi-disciplinary night of music, spoken, word, laughs, and outcries. The first musician of the night was Mysie, the first-ever winner of the Ivor Rising Star Award in 2020. Mysie’s voice is rich and raw, perfectly executing songs about love and boys she’s been ‘obsessed’ with (who, luckily, were not in attendance). Particularly powerfully, in introducing her song Play, she stated, “We just need to keep on playing and forget the rules.” Her words seem to sum up Out-Spoken at its core: playful and rejecting hegemonic rules surrounding art, bodies, and joy.

Travis Alabanza, notably, arrived on the stage in a stunning Calvin Klein outfit. After cracking some jokes about the femmes in the audience immediately recognizing the suit as Calvin Klein and decidedly not Chanel (as Joelle Taylor had emphatically stated before Travis took the stage), Travis read poems from their first-ever poetry collection. They wrote and self-published the book when they were 21. Although it was written a number of years ago, the poems touched on heartfelt and timely topics such as gender, trans experience, and the intersections of race and queerness.

Image: Kae Tempest, Out-Spoken May 2023. The Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, May 2023. Photo credit Arnaud Mbaki.

The last poet of the night was Kae Tempest. Tempest came out onto the stage to the sound of enthusiastic applause. They read 10 minutes of their newly released poetry book continuously, without stopping between poems. The utter urgency of the words flooded the room immediately, as they read out poems about love, queerness, and gender identity in quick succession. They finished by reading the final poem of their new collection, Divisible by Itself and One. The room immediately erupted into applause, much of the audience jumping to their feet to offer Tempest a standing ovation. Their poetry was equal parts heartwrenching and heartwarming, and — in a room filled with many queer community members — the reaction to their expression of queer love and gender was palpable.

The final act of the night was STANLÆY. Their music was eclectic, ethereal, drum-heavy, and striking. Book-ending a night of joy, laughter, and tears, their music seemed to echo the feeling that had been coursing through the Royal Elizabeth Hall auditorium for the whole night; Out-Spoken at Southbank Centre is a night filled with joyousness and beautiful words. If you are looking for a night to feel truly at home, Out-Spoken fits the bill.

Set List:

Daljit Nagra

The Ascent of a Victorian Woman

For the Wealth of India

Vox Populi, Vox Dei

The Calling

Mysie

Bones

CTRL

Play

In My Mind

Travis Alabanza

The Sea

Close to the Bone

An excerpt from their book None of The Above.

Kae Tempest

10-minute excerpt from Divisible by Itself and One.

Stanlæy

Inbetween Spaces

Fluorescent Fossils

Indigo

Limbless

Wanting more of Out-Spoken? See future events at Southbank Centre here:

Out-Spoken: June sees poets Sandeep Parmar, Richard Scott and Daniel Sluman perform vibrant spoken word sets, alongside musical guests Jonathan Bonya and Raie.

Date: Thursday 8 June 2023. Location: Purcell Room. Book now.

Out-Spoken Masterclass: June is led by Vanessa Kisuule, a writer and performer based in Bristol. She has won over ten slam titles, including The Roundhouse Poetry Slam, Hammer & Tongue National Slam and the Nuyorican Poetry Slam.

Date: Sunday 25 June 2023. Location: Royal Festival Hall, Sunley Pavilion. Book now.

Words by Sara Bellan