Here is a link to the launch of Release the Sausages! Poems for Keir Starmer and panel discussion at the Lit & Phil in Newcastle, on Wednesday 30 July at 6pm. The event is free:
Questions for discussion
As the world divides between Fascists, neo-Fascists, would-be Fascists, friends of Fascists and enablers of Fascists, effective oppositional spaces are rapidly disappearing. Democratic process is blocked by inequality, authoritarianism, deceit and a narrow ideological consensus. British intellectual and cultural life is blocked by the values of big business and show business.
When traditional forms of political participation (joining political parties, leaving political parties, voting, not voting, letter-writing, demonstrating, collecting signatures, etc) make no difference, artistic creation remains a crucially important way to bear witness, express dissent, organise opposition and isolate the enemy. The enemy has no culture of its own, can’t understand it, and is afraid of its democratic power. Poetry is especially well placed to mobilise popular feeling, being primarily a mass and amateur activity located outside the ideological apparatus of the state.
On the other hand, poets are economically insignificant, politically silent, easily bought-off and marginalised. The poetry scene is atomised and isolated from British society, its inaccessibility hardly disguised by protestations of diversity and inclusion. Conversations about poetry are reduced to the language of hyperbolic press-releases promoting corporate prizes and celebrity book-festivals.
What then can poets do to oppose the overlapping ideologies of Trump, Farage and Starmer? How do you laugh in the face of evil? Is it possible to ridicule the ridiculous, or monster a monster? Why try to ‘speak truth to power’ when nobody in power is listening? How can poets seriously engage with contemporary issues when so much public discourse is reduced to blatant lies, implausible claims and dog-whistle politics?
Release the Sausages! is available as a free PDF download HERE and as a pamphlet with 20 blank pages for you not to write your own poems in praise of Sir Keir, HERE.
