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Spoken word event 'safe space to be seen and heard'

Charlotte Vowden/BBC Northamptonshire poet Abbi Jinks is smiling after her performance at a spoken word poetry evening. She has short hair and is wearing a small golden top hat which has a ribbon around it. She has rosy cheeks and pink lipstick. She is wearing a jacket that is shimmering with blue sequins. She is stood in a brightly lit room with white-painted walls. Members of the audience are sat on chairs behind her.Charlotte Vowden/BBC
Northamptonshire poet, Abbi Jinks, performed at the spoken word event and praised the supportive and friendly atmosphere

A spoken word event has been praised for offering a "safe space to be seen and heard" by a poet.

The monthly open mic poetry night, called Rushden Rhymes, welcomes first time performers as well as those with more experience.

Northamptonshire poet, Abbi Jinks, praised its supportive and friendly atmosphere.

"I think as creatives and as people that's something we need more and more of, and it's lovely to come and be part of the audience and be part of the performance," she said.

Charlotte Vowden/BBC Poet and author, Jazmine Robyn Cartwright, is standing in the centre of a group of eight spoken word artists who performed at her open mic event which is called Rushden Rhymes. She wears a brown jumper with the word 'poet' on its front and has her arms spread with her palms upturnedCharlotte Vowden/BBC
Poet and author Jazmine Robyn Cartwright, pictured centre, said she was "proud" of the community that the spoken word event had created

Spoken word poetry, or slam poetry, is an art form that allows the poet to share their point of view and express their emotions using the power of words, rhythm and rhyme.

"It's real, and it's raw, and it's personal and it can be every emotion going," said Ms Jinks.

"It can be riotously funny and it can be heart wrenchingly sad, and I think it's so important as a creative practice to move through those emotions and to share them and to be seen for it."

The event is part of Rushden poet and author Jazmine Robyn Cartwright's plan to help inspire people to explore writing and poetry as a creative outlet.

"I think there's a lot of creative people hiding behind closed doors," she said.

"I want to encourage people to be themselves, and pick up a pen as well as listen to poetry."

Ms Cartwright, who runs creative writing workshops, says she is proud of the community the event has created.

"There was nothing like it locally, these things tend to happen in cities, not in local towns, which makes it difficult to get to if you have to rely on public transport," she said.

"To have something on the doorstep is really nice, we all build this connection together, it really is a poetry family."

Charlotte Vowden/BBC Poet David Wood is wearing large, slightly tinted, glasses and has white stubble. He is wearing a green zip up coat with a checked collared shirt. He is in a white room and is standing in front of artists easels that are stacked in a rowCharlotte Vowden/BBC
Rushden poet David Wood said he felt a "big buzz" when the audience applauded

The event takes place at 19:00 on the last Friday of every month at Scribble Studio in Rushden.

After performing at the event for the first time, Rushden poet David Wood said he felt a "big buzz" when the audience applauded.

"It's a big thing for me," he said.

"I think in rhyme, I've written well over 1,000 poems. I've always been looking for poetry meetings in Rushden but this is the first one I've found – and I've lived in Rushden all my life."

He added: "Every town needs something like this."

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