The Midlands is awash at the moment with spoken word events sometimes pulling in hundreds, as at Cafe Yum in Birmingham last week. Yet the backbone of poetry is often to be found in Libraries, with dedicated and knowledgeable librarians guiding and facilitating enthusiastic bands of writers, and camp followers. The Walsall library service is particularly active in this regard with Sonia Dixon in the vanguard of facilitating, and promoting the form. Last week she brought Matt Harvey to Walsall. This time she brought Nikki Bennett to Streetly Library to reprise her successful previous appearance of some two years ago.

Lichfield Poets provided a formal supporting role, with leader Janet Jenkins masterminding a two hander performance in which she told of the dangers that frogs face in ponds when copulating from renegade mobile phones, and her experiences in Galleries, the latter of which was memorably alliterative. The event was titled “Performance” and the Lichfield poets were followed by numerous floor readers, many of whom should be writing, and performing more regularly. It is always a delight to see how the less practised feign reticence initially, only to gain confidence as they see others perform. The originally reluctant and ostensibly unprepared poet who subsequently produced a printed 500 word opus from his inside pocket being a case in point!

However the person whom everyone had come to see in a strong turn-out was Nikki Bennett. Nikki has had six collections of poetry published and she has performed her poems at various poetry festivals and poetry group readings in the UK. She has also read her work in the USA and Europe, including at the conferences of International Women Writers’ Guild (New York State) and Geneva International Writers conferences.

She is a great believer in poetry as both communication and therapy, and in particular the highlighting of women’s issues and circumstances. Her collection Love Shines Beyond Grief was nominated for the ‘Ted Hughes Award for New Poetry’ 2010. As well as the collections, her poems have appeared in various magazines including: Crazy Lit, De Facto, Hearing Voices, Magma, Partners’ Aspire, Ravenglass, Artemis and roundyhouse. Nikki is a Stanza Rep for The Poetry Society UK, and founded ‘uni-verse’ poetry group in Bath, which promotes and celebrates international poets and poetry.

Some female poets who fly the flag for women’s issues seemingly make a point of writing to exclude men, not Nikki. Although written from a female perspective the inclusive nature of her writing was warm and accessible to men too. Poems form Love Shines Beyond Grief and Pink Nightie Poems told of fortitude in the face of serious illness. I shy from the platitudinous descriptions that some give of battles and victories in these situations. The patient doesn’t choose their fate, and there is no shame in being weak, nor ultimate triumph in bravery – you do your best. Reassuringly, Nikki’s light touch reflected that. No substitute was a poignant reminder that no photograph can replace a person, Medical Time a well observed wry look at the unique relationship that hospital wards have with time and how at odds they are with the outside world.

Face Value Families was a wry look at how Facebook can assist, but should not lead, cohesion for extended families, Clothes Memories both sharp and wistful. Certainly my favourite of all the poems she read. Only afterwards did I discover that she was in transit form South Wales to a new life in the Wirral, the poem may have had a greater immediacy than was immediately apparent. The process of having a clear out of your wardrobe, yet with each item having a story to tell, lived as she told it. As delightful after her performance in person, as she was whilst reading, it was clear that Nikki has much to tell, not only from her published work, and I suspect more to explore and reveal.

Further publications of Nikki’s work include The Pebble Collection, The Places We’re touched, Love Poems and Trans- Siberian Travels as well as two CD collections.

Gary Longden 12/10/11
For more information on Nikki, visit: http://www.nikkibennettpoems.com