martin daws

eco-urban post-hip hop proto-jazz poetics in habit form - yeah! i think that just about covers all the bases. to me, language is spoken music and my poetry is an exploration of this phonemenon. from my first efforts onwards my work has shown a willingness to deal with social issues through personal perspectives and their narratives; multi-culturalism, identity, personal integrity, and the evolution of culture are all important themes for me, and i'm also fascinated by the way we build relationships with that which is bigger than us; nature, society, the universe, God... the many environments in which i've lived provide backdrops to my work; from suburbs to inner cities and mountain villages. in my poetry the tongues of London and New York might speak a dialogue in double bass to phrase the lines of a Welsh mountain. On the quiet i'm also a killer freestyle mc; old skool to new skool to tru skool and graduate - but i don't like to brag about it. ha ha. in the last year i've also brought music to my words by playing Kalimba as an accompanying instrument. from 1987-1994 i was active as a DJ, based in London, playing nationally and internationally in music venues and on pirate radio. In 1994 i was inspired to start writing for performance after experiencing the New York slam poetry scene. my interest in writing led me to take an MA in Literature and Cultural History in Liverpool (1997). from Liverpool, it was a short step (geographically) to Snowdonia where i've been living and working since 2001. i've been lucky enough to collaborate with many talented artists, including; electro-acoustician rob mackay, hip hop producers skeematic, g-frequency and mr phormula, dancer sarah mumford, and the musicians in martin daws quintet. i was was runner up in the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry 2007, and second in the Glastonbury Festival Grand Slam 2008. my work has been broadcast by BBC Radio, published in international journals, and been performed extensively around the UK and Ireland and more recently on mainland Europe, in the USA and Mexico. since starting to write and perform i have achieved some modest success and been a lot of places and met a lot of fine people. i give thanks for all the experiences that have moved me closer to poetry, and so closer to myself and those around me: truly, i feel blessed to make my life and living in this way. details of the workshops i deliver are posted on a blog above. if you would like further info or to book a show please email me at [email protected] peace