Emma Purshouse gets the lockdown lowdown on Black Country dialect poetry on BBC Radio 4
Writer and performance poet Emma Purshouse explored the Black Country and its poetry on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 6 September, investigating why contemporary writers in the region are still using dialect in their work. In a programme made during lockdown, Emma considered the impact of industry, heritage, landscape, and the changing nature of close-knit communities upon dialect writers, as she caught up with some of the key players of the current Black Country Poetry scene via Zoom meetings, telephone calls and socially distanced meetings in bell pits [old coal mines], parks, market places and gardens.
In the fourth in the series Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets, Emma - armed only with a mask, a digital recorder, and a bottle of hand gel - talked to, among others, poets Brendan Hawthorne, Roy McFarlane, RM Francis and Liz Berry. The programme is at 4.30pm. More details
PHOTOGRAPH: BBC
M.C. Newberry
Mon 7th Sep 2020 15:58
Good to know that local dialect is being promoted in an age of bland
equivalence. The late Brian Carter was a committed defender
of Devon's "red soil accent" (as he termed it) in his articles and novels and delighted in using it when the opportunity presented itself.
England has a rich history of these local influences and, like the
folk songs that so often use the material, they should be respected,
preserved and frequently presented as part of our heritage.