We sit down with George Bloomfield, poet, actor and host of a spoken word open-mic night at Orbit Tap Room and Brewery to natter about his work, his influences and what makes a great open-mic night.
We recently took the plunge and performed at your open-mic at Orbit. The walk up to the venue was nerve-wracking, but the event itself was so great. You made everyone feel so, so welcome and encouraged.
Thanks, that's really great to hear. Ultimately that's what these evenings are about - getting people together and encouraging them to stand up and have a go in a safe and warm environment. But yeah, it can always be daunting, especially for first-timers, which you were.
We were.
You did great.
Fanks...but let's get into this.
Let's go!
How did you start writing poetry, how has the journey taken you from where you started, to where you are now?
I began writing poetry when I was 15, thanks to my old English Teacher Stephen Caldwell. I had a very rough time at school and he was one of the few teachers that genuinely inspired me. One lesson he finished by saying, “Oh I should probably give you guys some homework… write me a sonnet. Upon hearing mine, he said “You’re very good, keep writing.” It then became a way for me to express a lot of pent-up emotions that I otherwise would have struggled to voice, especially in such an unforgiving environment like school.
After years of casually writing, I thought open mics would be a good place to test the waters. After trying my hand at Verses Poetry night in 2022 I was stunned by the openness of the audience and accepting nature of the community. This has helped me critically with my work and exposed me to how other people see poetry as an artform and a hobby. To begin with I stuck to quite a rigid form of writing in sonnet form or with a very set combo of rhythm and metre. While I do still believe that is essential to crafting amazing poetry, I’m now at a stage where I can play with poetic tools in a looser way. Poetry is always changing and its best to keep experimenting.
How does inspiration come to you? Do you start with something you want to say, or address, or do you draw from experiences and observations?
Generally, I would say experiences and observations are the main one for me. Whether it be a big event that’s happening in the world that I feel passionate about or simply seeing something or someone in the real world. That could be from walking down the street or sitting on the tube. Human connection and my interactions with friends, family and partners also play a huge role in how I try to create images and messages.
Do you have any touchstones or strong influences that you aspire to, or draw from?
There’s not one influence that I would pin-point as something I aspire to. I want to draw from as many different sources as possible to create something unique. This could be from after reading a few poems from Keats to then hearing a first timer at an open-mic night and loving a particular way they expressed an emotion or painted a picture with words.
Throughout my childhood I listened to a lot of classic hip-hop. Nas is my favourite rapper of all time, his lyricism immediately caught my eye, or ear I should really say.
Recently I’ve been hugely inspired by Grian Chatten, frontman of Fontaines D.C. He has said himself in recent interviews that poetry is a huge part of his songwriting process. The band’s new album ‘Romance’ is a masterpiece in songwriting and musical composition.
Which poets should we be reading right now?
Ed Scissor has recently released a book called ‘Terrestrial’ which I can not recommend highly enough. I was at his book launch a couple months back and after reading exerts from the book you could see the way he blends incredible word play with simple yet powerful imagery.
Its also no secret that Caleb Femi is making huge moves in the poetry scene. After reading his book ‘Poor’ back in 2020 I was thrilled to see a new one coming out this year ‘The Wickedest’. Both showcase his artistry and vulnerability along with a desire to incite change through art.
How do you know when a composition is finished, or do they just escape?
It varies from poem to poem. Essentially, I could write something and lock it in within a day and be happy with it. Then there are some poems I’ve worked on for weeks if not months because I dip back in to them at sporadic moments. It’s such a fluid process and for that I feel I know when something is finished when I’m about 90% there. I know that sounds counter-intuitive but generally the body of text is what ultimately gets finished first, then there can be the trimming or minor additions that fine tune it.
Do you ever revisit old work and tinker with it, or do you prefer to keep it as a document of the past?
If it’s something I wrote over a year ago I prefer to leave it as it is. But as I’m planning on gathering a collection for a book, I have recently been mulling over old work and seeing old stuff that I think is worthy. If that requires a small edit to allow it to fit with the vision, then I see no harm in the odd amendment.
What, to you, is the significance of poetry – why do we need it?
I believe it’s an art form that touches people just as powerfully as things such as music. We’re beginning to see how a lot of musicians and songwriters are drawing on poetic influences to create powerful music. From a lot of discussions with fellow poets and just people in my life you would be surprised how many people have written a poem or two. It’s an accessible form of expression, anyone can pick up a pen and scrawl down what they’re feeling. It’s what you want to do with it after is up to you. Poetry has always been present in our lives, it just deserves a little more exposure, especially to young people. I always felt terrified to reveal to anyone that I was writing poetry when I was a teenager for fear of feeling like a loser or saddo. This kind of creative expression should be celebrated not vilified and I can see that there are positive steps being made.
You run a poetry open-mic night evening – how did that come about, and tell us the format.
Yes, I run a poetry / spoken word night at Orbit Beers and Taproom in Walworth, South London. It was set up by the previous manager Felix in 2023. He had been writing a lot of poetry himself and wanted to bring the community together through a simple and welcoming event. After he left Orbit, I asked the new management if I could host it seeing as they still wanted to continue the night. Since June I’ve been hosting and I absolutely love it. The format is completely an open mic where anyone can put their name down to read. This doesn’t just mean reading your own poetry as we’ve seen people just read a piece of text from a book they enjoy, or a poem that resonates with them. Depending on how busy the night is, 2-3 poems per person and if there’s enough time at the end the mic is left open to anyone who may want to jump up again.
Image Copyright: Orbit
What ingredients makes for a good poetry recital evening?
From all the events I’ve attended and from my growing experience its simply being enthusiastic whenever people enquire about the night or want to read.
Timekeeping is essential, especially to fit in all the readers. I strive to make sure everyone gets a chance to read and that’s why I enjoy keeping the night exclusively open mic for now. This does mean I have to be careful not to waffle too much and allow time for everyone to get up and read but to not feel rushed.
Making it as clear as possible that these events are for everyone, regardless of background. Also really pushing for people to make the first big step and perform their poetry for the first time. It’s incredibly rewarding to see people come out of their shell/comfort zone to bring their words to life.
Having a good relationship with the staff of the venue is also very helpful. I host the pub quiz on Sundays at Orbit so I know the guys there very well and they are extremely supportive towards myself and the event. Big shout out to Erin for being my little assistant and spreading the word to whoever is in the pub at the time, she helps get some extra bums on seats!
What draws you to performing you work in front of an audience?
Even as an actor, getting up in front of an audience can still be mortifying and when that includes reciting your own work, that is a huge challenge. I love the opportunity to gain confidence to recite my work and for anyone who’s there to give me feedback. I find at a lot of poetry events people are willing to discuss each other’s work and highlight what they found powerful. As I mentioned before, I want to find the right poems for my collection and performing them can be a real insight into what resonates with the audience as well as myself. I can be proud of my work and connect with it but whether it will connect with an audience/reader is a whole different kettle of fish. I can’t also forget that despite it being a little nerve-racking I do absolutely love being on a stage and performing. So even if the acting life is slow, I at least have other ways of building stage presence and confidence.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of performing their poetry?
If you are thinking of doing it, that means you want to. That is enough reason for you to just do it. If you’re ever worried about it just remember that the poetry community is extremely welcoming, and I would say the audiences are always most excited / supportive when someone is hitting the mic for the first time.
George, thank you so much for your time - we can't wait to hear more of you work and check out some more open-mic nights. We may have caught the bug!
Oh, you're more than welcome - you have one performance under your belt, and you're gonna get better and better with each performance. Keep going, keep getting out there!
And there you have it - some lovely, insightful words from a particularly talented fellow. We hope to bring you some of George's work to TheNeverZine in the near future, so keep your peepers trained on that poetry section!